First Crush 2
by Jennarei
Summary: Takes Place after my story First Crush. Read that one first! Simba's famous roar wasn't the end. A lot happened after that and their first cub, and further. SimbaxNala plus some OC's  Paused because of lack of inspiration :
1. Chapter 1 After the Roar

**Here you are! The first chapter of the Sequel! This just basically sets the scene. Things will get better later on. ENJOY! **

**SIMBA'S POV**

I did it. I was king. I did it. I looked down at all of my follower's faces, at their proud, grateful gazes. And felt the weight lift from my shoulders. I was home. I was HOME.

But then, thunder rumbled and lightning crashed. Water slipped into my eyes and I blinked to clear them. The adrenaline was over. And I saw my pride again. This time, beaten and bloody, tired, eyes rimmed with black, thin and sickly.

The weight returned.

I forgot for a split second, that these lionesses were living in Hell for a couple years. And they just fought a battle. I looked over at the grey lands. Dead and black, covered in skeletons. It itself was merely a skeleton, a shadow, of what I remembered as the Pridelands. Oh boy. I shook my head slightly and looked back at Rafiki. He walked up to me.

"The lands are in need of repair, but dat will come later. Right now, you must attend to your pride." He motioned to my waiting friends and family with his stick. I smiled and trotted down. My mother greeted me with a warm lick and soft nuzzle. I returned the favor.

But our small moment of joy was short-lived.

"Hey!" I turned to see the hyenas. Oh no. "Do we get to stay or..." it was Shenzi I believe, who spoke. I looked at my mother who nodded a faint 'No'.

"The lands can't take their overwhelming numbers. We already over-hunted and the black wasteland you see...is a result of them staying." she whispered. shooting a weary glance at the bloody creatures, carrying their fatally wounded and their dead on their backs. I took a deep breath and shook my head no at the Hyenas, conjuring every ounce of diplomacy I had in me.

"My father's law will prevail. You may not stay in the Pridelands. But I am sure that there are other lands beyond the Elephant graveyard." I waited for the attack of dozens of angry jaws. But they never came. Shenzi merely nodded and walked off. I opened my mouth in disbelief. Did that really just happen? They just left? When the last of the hyenas faded in the rain, my mother laughed.

"How did you do that?" she asked, looking at me in surprise.

"I...I have no idea!" I answered, still looking at where they dissapeared.

"I guess they were just as tired of Scar's reign as we were." she said, as if closing a case. She then looked at me with a huge smile. "You have to tell me EVERYTHING!" she laughed. I laughed a little.

"Of course, but right now, we might want to get everyone out of the rain and treat their wounds." my eyes raked the crowd for Nala, who gave me quite a kiss before I took my place as King, I never got to return the favor.

"Of course of course!" My mother said, as if waking from a trance. "Everyone! Let's go on in!" She called. Everyone gave a relieved sigh and started for the den. As soon as I got inside, I shook off all of the water that got in my fur and immediatly shivered. God it was cold! Everyone else followed suit. My mother sat down and motioned for me to do the same. All the others sat in a circle. Everyone excpet Timon and Pumbaa.

"Come on in!" I called.

"Umm. Mabye not buddy." Timon said nervously. I realized how unnerving it must be for them, considering there were about 12 lionesses who hadn't seen a meal in weeks inside. Wait. 10? I thought there were 13? Mom saw my apprehension and did a quick head count.

"Jari." She breathed. "We're missing Jari, Bonsu, and Livali." she shook her head and looked out at the now torrential rain. Timon and Pumbaa had now entered the den, encouraged by the stray rumble of thunder. But they kept close to me and away from the lionesses.

"We won't be able to look for them until after the storm. We can only pray to the kings for their safety." Sarfina said, from the opposite side of the circle. Everyone nodded in agreement. Right on cue, a dark figure staggered into the den, dripping wet, and collapsed in a heap on the stone floor. I shot up and rushed to their side, expecting it to be a hyena straying from the pack. Instead, it was a lion, skinny, dark brown fur with a small light brown mane. On his back, was a light lioness, with stormy grey eyes that were half closed. Livali! My Mom broke the shocked silence.

"Bonsu! Livali! Rafiki, get over here and help these two!" I snapped to attention and helped carry them further inside, away from the cold rain. Bonsu was breathing heavily, several long scratches running the length of his body, some patches of fur looked almost burnt.

"Jari...she...she was f-f-f-following m-m-me!" He exclaimed suddenly. Halllette patted his head reasurringly and told him to settle down. Rafiki was working vigorisly on Livali, muttering under his breath. Tal jumped up and started to converse with him, helping him with several things, keeping her voice low. I watched all of this in amazement. When did she learn all of this? The lionesses were silent behind me. This was just all to much to process.

"He said Jari was following him," Mom whispered, "Where is she?" she looked worried and I simply sighed heavily.

"I don't know, but where ever she is, I'm sure she's fine." I reassured her. Mom simply looked at where Rafiki finally sat down, wiping several beads of sweat from his forhead. Tal smiled at him and bowed her head slightly and stood next to Kuju, looking slightly tired.

"Dey will be fine," Rafiki said wearily as he leaned against the cave wall, "Dey just need a little rest." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Dank you Tal dear." He added. Tal simply smiled a small smile and nodded. I looked at her questioningly.

"I kinda learned a couple of skills, before I met you guys and after you and Nala...died." She said embarrased. I nodded, finally understanding. The rest of the pride layed down in the previous circle shape. After a while of silence (which was EXTREMELY awkward!) My mother spoke up.

"So, begin the tale!" Mom said excitedly. "Tell us everything!" she leaned foward, eager to listen.

"Well...um...I guess it started when..." I said, trying to begin the tale but my mind was still on Nala. Where was she? Suddenly, I felt a warm body settle next to me. I turned to see Nala, lying down, like everyone else, waiting for me to begin. I smiled slightly and turned to the rest of the pride.

"Oh!" Cried Tal, raising a paw. "Can I tell it?" I laughed. She always loved stories.

"But you don't even know the whole story!" I protested.

"Fine, you tell your part, I'll tell ours!" She pouted slightly but rested her head on Miko's paws, content with telling part of it and drawing a blush from Miko. But his light pink cheeks paled in comparison to Kuju's crimson ones as Kiki gave him a light lick on the cheek and laid her head on her paws. Kuju merely touched his cheek in disbelief before smiling a mile wide and nuzzling her head, obviously content.

-Later-

"So then, two lions stumble out from behind the bushes and-"

"Ow!" yelped a lioness. This happened frequently. Hallette and Rafiki were going around, treating wounds and healing gashes as I told the story and apparently could not do so without inflicting pain.

"and-"

"And it was Me and Miko!" interrupted Kuju. I rolled my eyes. Why was it so hard to let me tell the story? "We met up with Nala and the girls, who found each other a little bit before we found each other and-OW!" Rafiki had bound a gash on his leg tightly. We all laughed. Well, most of us. Some had drifted off to sleep. Like Tal, who had fallen asleep, head pressed against Miko's chest. He had fallen asleep as well, head on top of Tal's. But cracked one eye open at Kuju's outburst. Mom finally realized the lack of attention and yawned.

"It's getting kinda late Simba. We can continue the story tommorow." she smiled and woke up the sleeping lions with a small roar.

"It's time to go to bed everyone!" She called, recieving some annoyed grumbles and muttered complaints about being woken up. I yawned and laid down, but was stopped by a laugh.

"Oh no dear." she chuckled. "Your king now. You and Nala get to sleep on the platform!" I looked where a small platform stood, raised about a half foot from the ground...before the full sentence clicked in my head.

"Me and...and Nala?" I asked, stuttering slightly. Why wasn't Nala saying anything? I looked and saw her blushing, pawing the ground slightly.

"Of course! It was obvious from birth you two were inseperable, and that little kiss earlier proved my suspicions." mom laughed and settled down some feet away. I looked at Nala, but found her halfway to the platform already. I did a little dance inside and hurried over to the platform, greeting Nala with a soft lick on the cheek. She giggled and laid down. I laid down next to her and wrapped my arms around her, bringing her close. My heart sped up as she nuzzled my neck. I licked the rim of her ear and smiled when she let out a soft purr. This was almost perfect. I swallowed my fear.

"Nala?" I asked softly.

"Mm hmm?"she asked, looking up at me.

"I...I...I love you." there, I said it! She looked at me with wide eyes. Did she not love me? Was this a bad time? But all my doubts dissapated when she laughed softly and gave me a sweet, loving kiss. My heart sped up to a dangerous rate and my whole body buzzed.

"I love you too." She smiled and kissed me again before settling her head in my neck again. I touched my nose to her head, breathing in her scent and tightened my grip on her, bringing a soft giggle from Nala. I started to purr in sync with Nala and closed my eyes, letting out a content sigh.

Okay, NOW it was perfect.


	2. Chapter 2

**The long awaited...CHAPTER 2! I love writing for Jari, even if she's an OC. I'm pretty satisfied with this chapter, well, kinda. Please Review!**

**Enjoy!**

**JARI'S POV**

I couldn't believe it. What was Tal doing here? Why on EARTH did she just jump down in front of me. But then I realized the diverted attention and took the opportunity to melt into the brown/grey rock of my home when I heard screams. Tal's screams. She sounded angry but I thought little of it. Nowadays, everyone was mad at my Dad. But then, he said, or rather yelled something that caught my interest.

"IS EVERYONE COMING BACK TODAY?" I paused. Everyone? Who else was back? I peeked over a rock, purely out of curiosity, and got the biggest surprise of my life.

"Yes, yes they are." I did a double take. Was it him? Was it really him? I hid again, took a deep breath and peeked again. It WAS HIM! Only he had that golden fur, that confident smirk,  
>those brilliant amber eyes. My heart skipped several beats and sped up. HE WAS ALIVE! My heart swelled with uncontainable joy, something I hadn't felt in a long time. I found my way to the waiting group of lionesses, a bounce in my step. That is, until I saw who was at the front.<p>

Nala.

Her.

The witch. The evil spirit sent to torture me. She was at the front, following the back and forth of Simba and Scar. My nails unsheathed themselves involuntarily. I wanted to do nothing more that rip her little throat out. To wipe that high and mighty air right off her face. But something stopped me. A yell. I turned and stared in utter horror. Simba was hanging on to the edge of Priderock with only his paws. My heart caught in my throat. WHAT WAS MY DAD DOING? He leaned over as if to push him off, I could only watch. But then, Simba miraculously jumped up and screamed something. I didn't understand what. My mind was still reeling. WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON? Before I knew it, everyone around me let out a terrific roar and jumped out towards the hyenas, teeth and claws bared and ready for battle. I could only stand in shock as growls, roars, screams and shrieks of pain filled my ears.  
>Simba? Where was he? I watched as Nala saved him from being buried in hyenas and let out a growl. Hatred seethed into every crack of my being.<p>

I was going to save him. NOT NALA! I lunged forward and slashed at anything in my way, eyes searching for any glimpse of the freakish light tan color I hated so much. Nowhere. But I wasn't gonna give up. I batted and swiped and slashed and crushed, bit, clawed, tore. Destroyed everything in my path. Until someone cried out to me.

"Jari!" It was a voice I'd never thought I'd hear. "JARI!" I scanned the moving mass of grey, brown and tan. And spotted a limping figure.

"Mom?" I breathed. It was her. She was in worse shape than the rest of us. She was running as if in pain. Shouting out to me. I ran up to her.

"MOM!" I yelled, digging my head into her neck, breathing in the scent I thought I'd never smell again.

"Oh thank the Kings! My Jari, my precious Jari..." I felt tears flow down my face, felt my mothers tears fall on my shoulder. It was too good to be true. I was alone. All this time, I was alone. And now, Simba AND my Mom came back! This was THE best day ever! I didn't even mind that I was covered in blood, or that cold rain was falling on me, chilling me to the bone, or the fact that the ground was covered in mutilated bodies. Because I wasn't alone anymore.

"Are you all right?" She asked me, tears (or rain) streaming down her face. I merely nodded. "Can you forgive me?" she whispered. Then I remembered what happened before.

She lied.

She hid the truth.

Then she left. She left me ALONE. I pulled away.

"I...I don't know." I said. "You lied to me. You told me that you didn't know who the father was! And he was here the whole time." My voice raised slightly.

"I know, I know, but I did it for your own good! I did it for you!" She cried.

"Oh really?" I countered "You stripped me of a father figure!"

"What kind of father figure IS SCAR?" She screamed. "Did he ever tell you he loved you? Hold you when you were scared? Called you his little girl? Did he ever even show ANY affection at all? Did he-"

"STOP!" I yelled, ears back. "Just STOP!" I didn't want to hear anymore, mostly because it was all true.

"I WILL continue!" She countered. "I didn't tell you because he was never going to be a father, he was only going to use you! He only wanted an heir!" she closed her eyes and staggered forward. "I love you Jari. Why isn't that enough?" she gasped for breath and collapsed. I ran foward and tried to push her up.

"Mom! MOM! Please get up!" I screamed. Her breaths became ragged and she looked at me.

"Do you forgive me?" She whispered. I nodded frantically. I didn't care what she did before. She was my mom, she couldn't die. Not now.

"Yes, yes I do! Mom, please, don't leave!" I tried calling for help but my cries went unnoticed in the crackling flames.

"Shh, Jari...Calm down." She said, resting her head on her paws. "I'll be fine."

"NO!" I cried, vision blurring with tears. "We have to get help! HELP!" I screamed again.

Suddenly, a dark brown, almost black lion jumped down besides me.

"I'll get her to safety, just follow me." Bonsu said. He managed to not stutter and I merely nodded frantically in response. He picked her up, and put her on his back. "Just hang on Livali!" he called, then took off, surprisingly fast. I scrambled to keep up, tears still blurring my vision. I ran after the retreating dark figure. Tripping over every little thing in my path. I roared in frustration as a hyena launched itself at me. I fell on the stone ground and swung blindly at whatever attacked me. The weight on my back suddenly dissapeared. I whipped my head around to find Shenzi staring at me.

"You were the one who was killing off my people!" she growled, advancing slowly. I spat at her paws. She took a step back.

"I was simply helping get rid of some pests. It was orders" I growled, never taking my eyes off the the matriarch. I had no idea where I was going with this.

"Pests?" she barked, a look of rage on her face. "PESTS? Just WHO's orders were you following?" she took several steps towards me before a voice stopped her.

"No Simba wait, I am f-f-familyyy! It's the hyenas who are the real enemy! They did it! They planned everything!" We both turned our attention to my Dad's voice, coming from above us,  
>slightly behind a wall of flames. I still saw my father's scared expression. I knew he wasn't going to surive the fight. I bit back a laugh. My dad had a knack for lying, but this time, it was going to fail him. He never loved me. So now, I officially never loved him.<p>

"Does that answer your question?" I growled, narrowing my eyes. I then sighed heavily. Enjoying the look of surprise on Shenzi's face as my dad's...no, Scar's statement clicked in her head. "Scar never liked you guys, he simply needed you to get to the throne. He ordered me to start killing you off, one by one. I refused. But he threatened to kill all of your pups, all of MY people as well. He threatened to torture me slowly. And I'm his daughter. So I relunctantly agreed. I tried to go as slowly as I possibly could, killing small numbers. I tried to help you, so that you would notice what was going on and confront Scar, to stop it. Because you guys are more cunning, more capable of arguing with him than me." I breathed a deep breath after my monolouge, wishing desperatly that Shenzi would apoligize and leave or SOMETHING! I NEEDED to get to my mom, to see if she was okay!

"You could have told me!" she snapped suddenly.

"I could have, yes, I realize that, I was planning to actually. Scar got suspicious when he saw me starting to approach you. I didn't want him to know what I was up to." Gosh, I was lying through my teeth!

"Fine, I won't kill you." She seethed. "I'll just make sure that I have NOTHING! I SAY NOTHING! To do with you idiotic LIONS!" She barked an order to a hyena I never realized was there and looked at me again before starting to walk away.

"Hey!" I shouted, not believing what just happened. Why was she giving up so easily? "Where are you going?"

"Just to repay a favor." she said, a suspicious glint in her eyes. With that, she dissapeared behind the flames. I stood there, confused before a mass of hyenas swarmed past me. I yelled in surprise and scrambled up the side of Priderock, trying to escape their wrath. After the last of them passed by, I heard deafening screams. My heart tightned in my chest. Scar. My dad.

NO

He wasn't my dad. He didn't do anything for me like a father should have. My mother was priority. My mind cleared and I bolted for the front of Priderock, eager to see my mother and Simba.

Simba.

I loved him. I loved him since...well...forever! I couldn't wait to see him again. He would be so happy to see me that he would forget about that witch Nala and exile her to the Outlands! We would be the best King and Queen Priderock had ever seen! I smiled at the thought and quickned my pace. I almost shouted with joy when the ledge came into view. When a sight stopped me in my tracks and made my heart shatter.

They were kissing.

Nala...Simba...they were...KISSING.

And he seemed to like it! They seperated and after a bit, he leaned in for more! That BASTARD! He was supposed to love ME! I felt hot tears escaping my eyes, streaming down my face. This couldn't be happening.

THIS. WASN'T. HAPPENING.

It was a nightmare. A hellish nightmare.

I turned around and ran. At least I tried to. I ran into something hard.

"Hurts doesn't it?" I looked up to see two ruby eyes.

"What would you know?" I spat. Not wanting anyone's sympathy. Especially Zira's.

"I was exactly in your position when I was younger." she said, gazing at where all of the lionesses were talking, excited at having the rightful king back.

"I doubt it." I countered staring away from the painful image.

"I was. Scar, you see, he loved another when we were younger. But I loved him. He usually didn't give me a second glance and gave the other lioness all of his attention. But I took matters into my own hands." she said, harshness creeping into her words.

"What did you do?" I asked, curious of her solution.

"I got rid of her." she answered simply. "He spent some time mourning, but I was there to help him through it. And eventually, he loved me." she finished the staement with a triumphant air and looked at me. "I'm not fond of Simba killing my mate. And I'm not fond of him doing something like this to a kindred soul. I have a plan. But I need your help." she said, leaning in close.

"I'm listening."

**NALA'S POV**

He loved me! He freakin' LOVED me! It was the BEST day EVER! I nestled my head into his thick mane with this thought. It was perfect. I loved Simba, Simba loved me. I must have repeated this sentence a thousand times in my head before drifting off to sleep. Safe in his arms.

I woke up when a cold breeze swept over me. I shivered and reached out to bury myself further into Simba when I realized...he wasn't there. I sat up and looked around. I spotted Sarabi, my mother, Miko and Tal, Kuju and Kiki, Hallette and Falo, everyone except him. Where did he go? I stood and stretched to wake up my sleepy muscles and walked outside, I was instantly greeted by a cold breeze. I shivered and looked around, walking to the edge of the large pointy ledge at the front of Priderock. What on earth possesed Simba to get up this late and in these conditions?

"You should be asleep." A voice said softly from behind me. I turned to see Simba padding up to me, mane rustling from the wind.

"So should you." I countered, watching him until he sat next to me.

"I was just looking at the kingdom, wondering what we should do next. You know, where we should go, what we will eat." He scooted over till our sides touched and nuzzled my head softly. I purred slightly.

"You have tommorrow to think about that. Right now, all of the SANE lions are inside, asleep. You should too." I leaned into his affection and laughed as he sighed.

"I know. I know. Let's get out of this cold. But first..." he wrapped his arm around me and kissed me. Hard. I kissed back and snaked an arm around his neck and dug it into his mane.  
>Heart pounding and head spinning. We finally broke apart, both of our faces slightly red.<p>

"What was that for?" I breathed, not giving up my grip on his neck. He chuckled and pressed his head against mine.

"For being the lioness that I love." he smiled and unwrapped his arm from around me and started for the den. Leaving me giggling on the tip. I raced up to him and licked his cheek. That was the second time in one night he told me that he loved me.

"I love you too." I whispered. He smiled and nuzzled my cheek. We were walking around the pride, careful not to step on anyone when Simba stopped. I looked to where he was staring and bit back a laugh. Miko had his back facing Tal, shivering. Tal was curled into a ball, equally cold. Simba rolled his eyes and walked over to where Miko was and gently rolled him over until his stomach was against Tal's back and his arm was around her stomach. He stirred slightly but only smiled and snuggled close to Tal, who's smile was equally wide. I giggled as Simba nodded, seemingly satisfied and joined my side. I looked around and spotted Kiki's head on Kuju's paws, his head nestled on top of her's. I smiled and giggled when Simba spotted them as well and nodded. We both settled on the platform, in our previous position.

"What was that all about?" I whispered.

"They just needed a little push." He responded, tightening his grip on my back. I laughed softly and dug my head into his mane. We drifted off to sleep. My dreams full of Simba.

**Well, how did you like it? Please tell me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3! I had such a hard time writing this, but it was fun nonetheless. It's a bit lengthy and contains major fluff at the beggining. mabye you'll kill me for the fluff not being about our favorite couple but I HAD to put it in there. PLEASE ENJOY!**

**MIKO'S POV**

I don't know what rolled me over, if I did it in my sleep or what, but I'm glad it happened. I remembered being cold before bed, but decided against curling around Tal. It was a bit strange. I mean, I loved her, but I've never told her. I guess I was too scared to. But I was also a bit afraid to show much affection around other lions. It didn't end well last time I did.

_Years before..._

Tal! It was her! I ran up to her, tail swishing automatically. She smiled sheepishly when I bounded up to her. Probably remembering yesterday, I asked her out! TAKE THAT SIMBA! I had liked her since...well, I remember going to Rafiki's one day and seeing her there, helping out. She was quiet and I remembered seeing her with Nala and Kiki sometimes. As soon as she looked up, my heart skipped a beat. She had dark, soil-like colored eyes, rimmed with a lighter brown. I was scared for a while, mostly because I thought girls were gross at the time but we started talking a little and slowly...I didn't think girls were gross. I got made fun of when I shared my thoughts of asking her out. But who cares? She said yes! I smiled back at her and timidly nuzzled her head, heart beating fast. She always made my heart do that. She giggled a little and nuzzled me back. I didn't really mind it. Sure, I thought girls were gross before. But I didn't anymore. All because of Tal.

"Aw! Look at Miko! He has a little girlfriend!" my mom said. A little TOO loudly! Tal immediatly froze up and took a half step away from me, looking at the ground as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. I felt my face get red and I gritted my teeth.

"Mom!" I protested. She only laughed.

"Aw, what happened? Not gonna give your girlfriend some sugar?" mom said, pushing me into Tal. She merely looked up sheepishly from behind the tuft of fur that hung over her eyes. Her face was red. The other lionesses started to coo and aww at the apparently "Cute" couple. I wanted to die. Tal choked out a bye before running towards the water hole. I tried to go after her but my mom grabbed me and started to give me a bath. I merely curled into a ball and tried to ignore the lionesses twittering.

_Present..._

And believe me, there was nothing fun about that! The stupid lionesses would keep teasing me and Tal about it! I couldn't get near her for a whole week! I guess it kinda scarred me. I glanced at Tal, mere inches away from me as she settled down on her side, exausted from the battle and helping Rafiki. I bit my lip as a breeze blew by and I saw her shiver. Gods, there was nothing I wanted to do more than wrap my arms around her and fall asleep with her warmth scaring away the cold. I smiled at the thought. But then I thought of being made fun of and simply laid on my side close to her, at war with myself.

Then something pushed my side and I found myself with Tal's shoulder blades pressed against my chest. Still half-asleep, I snuggled closer, tightening my grip on her stomach before the situation hit me. My heart started beating like crazy. What just happened? I was about to move away when I felt Tal's arm move on top of mine and her toes intertwine with mine, purring slightly. I felt the heat rise to my face but I couldn't help but smile and purr as well. Her body heat made me warm inside and the chill of the night immediatly went away. I dug my head into the back of her's, her scent making my insides go fuzzy. I smiled wider, the world already going black. I wasn't going to miss out on this. Even if there WAS teasing.

I woke up when sun hit my eyes. I groaned. It couldn't be day already! I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and yawned, my jaw hitting something solid. I looked down, confused and saw a dark tan lioness. It took a bit to process but then I remembered last night. I smiled and propped myself up on one elbow and looked down at her peaceful expression. God she was beautiful. I reached with my other paw and tucked the tuft of fur on her head behind her ear. Quickly returning my arm to her stomach when she stirred and blinked slowly, yawning and bringing one paw up to rub her eyes. She looked around then froze, looking up at me, a sheepish smile and light blush.

"Good morning." she whispered, turning around so that my arm was resting on her back.

"Good morning." I replied softly, unsure of what to do. She looked at where her paws were resting on my chest, and bit her lip while her face got red. "How'd you sleep?" I asked, afraid to do anything.

"Good...it was was...cozy." she replied, taking her paws off of my chest and hugging them to her own, much to my dismay.

"Come on lovebirds!" Shouted Simba from the den entrance. I wanted to smack him. Lovebirds? REALLY? "We can't start the meeting without you!" Tal blushed a deep crimson and immdiatly got up and ran outside. I sighed heavily. Why Simba? Did he HAVE to do that? I stretched, yawned and made my way outside. Tal was licking her paw absentmindedly, avoiding my gaze at all costs. Simba snickered and Nala hit his shoulder. I mentally thanked Nala.

"Alright!" Kuju shouted, rubbing his eye. "Whatcha wake us up so early for?"

"Because..." Sarabi sighed, obviously annoyed, "We have to decide what we're going to do. I vote for retreating to the haven!"

"But my daughter!" Livali called from a boulder, apparently she refused to be left out, even when she was sick. "We have to search for her!"

"We will Livali, but we can't spend too much time looking for her. We have to get somewhere where we can survive." Sarabi answered.

"Well, I think we can stay here." Simba said. All eyes looked at him.

"WHAT?" Kiki exploded.

"I...think...we...can...stay...here." He repeated, slowly and delibratly, like if talking to a young cub. Several lioneses snickered at Kiki's miffed expression but many just stared at Simba as if he had grown a second head.

"I understood what you said!" She huffed. "I just think your a nut job! How on earth are we supposed to stay here?"

"Rafiki, please explain." he smiled and gestured towards Rafiki who had been sitting near-by.

"Well, one of de main reasons de lands were so bad unda Scar's reighn was because he was NOT de rightful King. Wheneva der is a false king on de throne, de great kings make de lands suffer like de circle of life is. Until de rightful King takes his place." He finished the story by gesturing to Simba. We all stared blankly at Rafiki. He rolled his eyes. "De lands will be back to normal in no more dan 2 or 3 weeks!" he almost yelled, obviously annoyed. We all had an "oh" expression.

"Well, what are we going to do until then?" Tal asked softly.

"We're gonna use the tunnels." Simba answered. "William informed me of a river inside. We should be able to fish for food and drink from it was well." I glanced to where William was standing, a proud expression on his face. "He will take the first group down to drink your fill and eat something. He'll teach you how to fish. Jessikia will take the second group." He then divided the pride into two groups, Sarabi went with the first group (the lionesses weren't very comfortable with the leapords just yet.) and Simba would go with the second.

I almost jumped with joy at the prospect of being able to talk with Tal, mabye fix the awkwardness of the morning. But as soon as I turned to talk to her, Rafiki called for her to help him continue treatment on Livali and Bonsu. She shot me an apollegetic smile and walked over to where Rafiki was bent over the patients. I smiled back but growled when she was out of earshot.

"Can't go few minutes without her can you?" a voice asked from my right. I let out a shout of surprise and jumped to the left. Tal looked from where she was and let out a laugh. I would have smiled at her addicting laugh if it wasn't at my expense.

"Simba!" I growled. Kuju was laughing next to him. "Whatcha do that for?"

"Well, I was simply stating a fact." he said, chuckling at my annoyance.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, like you don't think about Nala every two seconds." I shot back. Enjoying the look of surprise and embarresment on his face. Kuju let out a "Oh!"

"Shut up Kuju!" he hissed. "I do not!"

"Do too!" I countered.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Not!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"Stop it!" Nala yelled from her place next to her mom. "Your just as bad as cubs!" she rolled her eyes and continued to talk to her mother, who apparently wanted the rest of the story. Me, Simba, and Kuju all looked at each other and burst out laughing. Kiki ran over and tapped Kuju on the shoulder. He whirled around and smiled instantly. I rolled my eyes mentally.  
>And they called ME lovesick!<p>

**JARI'S POV**

I kicked at the packed dirt ground. Scowling at the dead foliage around me. Black bushes, brown, cracked ground, grey tumbleweeds blowing past. That was basically all of the colors I saw in the outlands. The only pretty thing was the sky. Crisp and blue, not a cloud to be seen. I breathed in the cool air. It was cold lately. I didn't know if it was winter or what, mabye the weather was mimicing my heart. Cold. The ground was like my soul. Broken.

Mom.

Dad.

Simba.

Everything I loved was turned upside down.

Mom. Who left me alone. She came back. She was probably dead. I shed a single tear before wiping it away, frustrated. NO MORE TEARS!

Dad. Someone I found later, who caused my mom to leave, who caused my home to die. Who never really loved me.

Simba. Who I always loved. Who I always cared for. He died, left me alone. Only to return, in the arms of another.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts. Focus Jari! I looked around, looking for any lion or life! Zira told me to come here, that as soon as I see another lion to say the password. I scoffed mentally. There was nothing here!

"Who are you!" someone growled. I whipped my head around to see a brown lioness, the same color as the enviorment around me. I raised an eyebrow.

"Who's asking?"

"I think I asked you first!" she growled. I rolled my eyes.

"Do you think I care?" I countered

"Ah, we got ourselves a smartass!" the lioness snarled taking a step towards me, claws extended. I simply examined her. Thin, scraggly, her ribs were seen clearly through her skin, her body was covered in scars, part of her ear was missing. I could take her, probably kill her but I wasn't here for that. I licked my paw slightly and looked back at her, amused by her pissed expression.

"Hail Scar, forever and always." I recited from memory. It was such a STUPID password. The lioness stopped in her tracks and stared at me suspiciously.

"Zira sent you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. She sent me with a proposition."

"Well..?" she asked, motioning for me to continue.

"I was told to speak to the leader of you Outlanders...Humiri I belive it is."

"I'm Humiri." she answered.

"Very well," I started, "Zira proposes that your followers and her followers join together to give the false king what he deserves. A broken home. A lost kingdom. Suffering. The kingdom will eventually be handed back to Scar's bloodline." Me. I wanted to add. The lioness paced back and forth for several minutes while I tapped my claws on the ground, impatient.

"Tell her that I will consider the deal." she turned to leave but I stopped her.

"Zira herself will be here in several days, you can make your decision then." I stated, then walked away, towards the Pridelands. Hoping that my mother was alive. And that I had enough self control to not kill Nala where she stood.

**SIMBA'S POV**

Okay, I kinda lied to Nala when I said why I left the den. I really just needed to use the grass. But I WAS thinking about those things earlier. I finally returned the kiss that Nala gave me before and enjoyed every second of it! I also helped my friend Miko not freeze to death, and comepletly distance himself from Tal by rolling him over so that his arms were around her waist and his chest was pressed against her back. I think they enjoyed it. Kuju (surprisingly) didn't need any of my mad cupid skills and I gladly went back to sleep. My lioness in my arms. I liked the ring to that.

Nala, my lioness.

I woke up when the first few rays of light peeked into the den. I was always an early riser, even as a cub. I chuckled softly at the memory of waking up my various friends at this unholy hour. Much to their protests. I looked down at Nala, who, having her head in my neck, wasn't aware of the sun. I licked her head softly and she merely muttered something like 'Simba' I smiled and carefully unwrapped my arms from around her back. She only stirred slightly but went back to sleep. Good, I didn't want her to lose any sleep because of MY uncertainty.  
>I knew there was only one animal who could help me.<p>

"Rafiki." I whispered, looking around. Where was the crazy monkey? I stepped outside, stretching and enjoying the feel of the sun warming my pelt. I looked around to spot Rafiki picking some dead leaves off of the ground. Muttering in a foreign language and adding them into a small turtle shell. I padded over to him.

"Rafiki?"

"AHH!" he shouted, swinging at me with his stick. I expertly ducked and avoided the sweep. He already got me once. I was NOT getting another bruise just because he was nervous.

"Relax!" I hissed. "It's just me, and please lower your voice, your gonna wake the others!"

"Simba! Don't eva do dat again!" he chided me.

"Sorry." I apoligized, realizing how much I'd just scared him. I closed my eyes, trying to find out how to ask him when he hit me with the stick! "OW!" I hissed. "What was that for? I said I was sorry!" I put my paw to my head, the bump already throbbing.

"I know.." he chuckled "Dat was for being doubtful!"

"Doubtful? I'm not.." one look from the monkey and I shut up. "How did you know?"

"I know a lot you do not! But what I don't know is why your so full of doubt!" he laughed.

I looked at the Pridelands. I was afraid of THIS. Zazu may have trained me in almost every possible diplomatic and war situation, but no lesson he gave me could have prepared me for dealing with a DEAD home!

"I doubt my ability to save my home."

"Did you not already get rid of de threat?" he asked, shaking the dead leaves in the turtle shells.

"Well, one of them. There's the drought, the lack of food, the hyenas, who might come back, heck I couldn't even keep Jari from dissapearing! How am I supposed to rule a kingdom? Let alone a dead one." I looked at the grey pridelands, such a contrast with the bright blue skies.

"Ah yes, der are many tings to worry about when one is king. And you just began! But, I believe dat I can help wit one little ting."

"Really? You can?"

"Yes! De lands aren't much to worry about. Dey will return to der normal state in a matta of weeks. You are de rightful king of course!" he chuckled.

"Oh, well that's good news! Thank you Rafiki!" I smiled and turned to go back to the den.

"One more ting." he called, standing up. "Do not let what you have go." with that, he went back to mixing things in his bowl. I looked at the sun and decided that a meeting should be in order. I walked inside and woke my mother.

"Please help me wake the others, we need to hold a meeting."

**LIVALI'S POV**

I was a part of the second group to enter the tunnels, considering that I did need medical attention. I looked at Rafiki, who just finished a concotion of some sort.

"Drink dis, it will help you regain your strength."

I smiled and slowly lapped up the sweet tasting liquid. My mind wasn't entirely on my enviorment. Jari was still out there somewhere! She could have perished in the fire! Or, the hyenas could have gotten to her! I shook my head and reassured myself.

She was fine. Perfectly fine.

"Is everything okay Livali?" a soft voice asked me. I looked up to see a dark tan lioness with dark brown eyes. Tal, Rafiki's protege.

"Yes, I'm just a bit tired is all." I answered. She merely smiled and nuzzled my head softly.

"She's fine Livali. Jari is a strong girl."

"I know." I smiled. This girl was too sweet for her own good. I only wished Jari would have picked up on her and that darling Nala's habits. Nala was such a dear. And quite a queenly figure already. I frowned at the thought. Jari wanted to be queen. But it was impossible for her to be Queen now, for one, Simba was the rightful king and Jari was his cousin so that ruled out the option of marriage. My head was staring to ache from straining my brain.

"JARI!" someone yelled. I realized that it was Bonsu. I looked around frantically to see Jari, a smudge of cinnamon-brown, getting closer to Priderock. JARI!

"Kiki, Sarafina, Kuju, do you mind going to her and making sure she's okay?" Simba said. the mentioned lions nodded and started towards my daughter. They approached in several minutes. FAR too long for a concerned mother. As soon as she came close, she ran up to me, digging her head into my neck.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm Sooo Sorry!" she whispered, tears sliding down her face.

"Ssh, there there Jari, everythings going to be okay." I whispered, rubbing her back softly. Tears of joy escaping. She was okay. She was okay.

**PLEASE TELL ME HOW I DID!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4! It's up and running, full of fluff and drama (near the end). I would like to thank Jonny2b for reviewing every chapter, helping me with certain chapters and being a good friend. Thank you! :)**

**Enjoy!**

**RAFIKI'S POV**

De lands were healing perfectly. I looked at the mural on one of the biggest branches of my tree. It was a picture of the King of the Pridelands.

Simba.

I smiled and added some more red mane around his head. He had grown to be such a great king. It had not been easy, he had dealt with irritating herd leaders, small skirmishes with the odd hyena near the border, and the occasional fight with Zira and her few followers.

Zira.

I scowled. Zira was a no-good...troublemaker. I wasn't going to call her anything else. She often complained about Simba's rule, when it was perfectly fine! She claimed that it was better under Scar's reign. That was a lie that even she knew was wrong. Simba was just starting out and had done a dozen times better than Scar could have ever done! Sarabi had many times advised him to exile her and her little clan, but he insisted that they not do so. He did not want to start his reign by exiling lionesses. Especially a gifted hunter. I sighed in frustration. Mufasa had told me that there was great sorrow in the future. A great dark cloud. But why? Why, so early in the Pridelands recovered state, in the pride's recovered state,  
>did anything bad have to happen?<p>

"Rafiki? I got the flowers you wanted. Why did I have to get these again?" I turned to see Tal, my apprentice, coming from the hidden entrance. She had a bunch of purple and orange savannah lilies in her mouth.

"Tank you dear!" I said, a smile on my face. "Dey are for some paint I must make. Purple and Orange ink." I took the flowers and immediatly plucked the petals, dropping them into two seperate bowls according to their colors.

"Oh." was all she said, watching me work. I chuckled to myself. She usually asked more questions than this.

"Is someting wrong?"

"Well..." she began, rubbing her arm slightly from her seated position in front of me. "It's not my question...okay mabye it is...but...the lands are back to normal, and there is no Queen.  
>Well, Sarabi is...but...OH FORGET THIS!" she yelled, exasperated. "Nala asked me to do this discretely but, there's no way around it! When is the wedding going to take place?" she finished, looking slightly flushed. I jumped a little when she exploded but smiled and laughed.<p>

"I do not know! Wheneva Simba tinks it is time!" I answered.

"Oh gods, everyone knows how slow he is! It's obvious they love each other! When is he going to pop the question!" she put a paw to her head, rubbing her temples. I laughed.

"Migrane?"

"Yes. Because Simba is a id-"

"Um Hello up there?" someone called. Tal stopped immediatly. It was Simba. I went up to the edge of my tree and motioned for him to come up. He scrambled up the side, and laughed when he reached my workshop. "Rafiki! I actually came for..." he stopped talking when he spotted Tal.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

"Um, no just...can we have a minute?" Simba asked, looking a bit annoyed.

"Um...I guess." Tal swiftly jumped out of the tree, landing while muttering several things.

"Well, what is it?" I asked.

"I want to repeal the betrothed law."

"YOU WHAT?" I screamed, frantically grasping for my stick, this boy needed some sense-knocking!

"No no no!" he protested, covering his head with one paw, motioning for me to put my staff down. "I have a VERY GOOD REASON!"

"You betta!"

"Look, I know that everythings finally quieting down, and I wanted to...I wanted to ask Nala to marry me." he admitted, blushing a dark pink.

"And what does dat have to do with repealing de betrodal law?"

"I want to repeal it because I want to ask Nala for MYSELF. She know's we're betrothed, but I want her to say yes because she loves me. Not because of a law." he added emphasis on the word 'law'. I nodded, finally understanding. He had a big heart. Particularly for Nala. I chuckled.

"Is dat why you asked me to make de orange ink?" it was a sign of engagment. Whenever a lion couple were going to be mates for life, de male would trace a line around de female's ear,  
>and vice versa. Only half a circle, then, on the day of the marriage, the circle would be comepleted. It signified the circle they would become. Completing each other.<p>

"Yes." he said softly, looking at the half finished ink wistfully "It's her favorite color."

"Well, it will be ready shortly, but rememba, de whole council must agree to dis change. I agree, so it is one down, two to go!" every king had a council. It consisted of the current Shaman, the former Queen and King (if still alive), the captain of the hunting party, and the current queen." He had my vote, he just needed to convince Sarabi and Kiki, who had shown marvelous hunting skills immediatly. Surely they would agree.

"Of course, of course! You are actually the last one! Kiki promised not to breathe a word to Nala about it. Mom actually...squealed and proclaimed it one of the most romantic ideas she had ever heard of." he addmitted, laughing softly. I chuckled and continued to make the ink. Simba promised to return for it later but he had to go announce the repeal of the law. I wondered how Nala would take it?

**SIMBA'S POV**

I jumped out of Rafiki's tree, pleased. My plan was going perfectly. I would announce the repeal of the law, then take Nala on a moonlit walk. I already had a spot picked out and the ink was almost ready. My heart sped up at the thought of actually asking her to marry me. The last few months had been difficult, I usually went on my morning rounds with Miko and Kuju,  
>Bonsu stayed behind to look after things, he had actually gained some weight and looked like a formidable opponent. Then, I would listen to Zazu's morning report and take care of anything that needed tending to. After that, I would return to Priderock to eat, then go on my afternoon rounds. Later, I would come back home, exhausted, and sleep, talking to Nala only for a few minutes before falling asleep, only to repeat the whole process in the morning. But now, things had quieted down and I finally got around to wondering about...Queens.<p>

"Simba!" Miko called, running up to me. "Did you come from Rafiki's tree?"

"Yes, why?" I asked.

"Well...I was..." he said, tracing circles in the dirt. "I asked him to make some purple ink...and I wanted to see if it was ready."

"I don't know, but when you go over there, come back with Tal, I have an announcement to make." I answered, vaugely knowing what the ink was for. He simply nodded, face a light pink before taking off for Rafiki's tree. I continued for Priderock, nervous every step of the way. What if she took it the wrong way? What if she thought I DIDN'T want to marry her? When really, that's all I wanted. I finally came to the den entrance, calling for everyone's attention. Miko and Tal arrived shortly, Tal looking annoyed and Miko looking quite red. Nala bounded up to me, tail swishing and and smiling.

"Hey Simba!" she called, nuzzling me softly. I returned to affection and quickly cleared my throat.

"Um...I have called you all here, to announce...that the Betrothal Law has been officially revoked. All current betrothals are now.." I couldn't finish because of Nala's look of horror.  
>"Nala are you okay?" I asked softly. Afraid of the answer. She merely changed her expression to one of comeplete anger.<p>

"How..I...YOU!" she yelled, shedding a tear before running away.

"NALA!" I yelled, trying to follow. "WAIT! YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" I ran after her. She took it the wrong way! She hated me! I had to catch up! I pushed myself to run faster.  
>Damn it! She was fast! But I was faster, in a matter of seconds, I had caught up to her. I growled and passed her, turning around and stopping. She stopped mere inches from me.<p>

"What do you want?" she growled.

"I want you to be patient and allow me to explain!"

"Oh? Explain what? The fact that you abolished the one law that-"

"Would you just listen?" I shouted, patience wearing thin.

"Fine whatever!"

"Thank you. Would you like to take a walk? It would make everything easier." I asked, shooting her my famous smile. She simply huffed and looked away.

"Whatever."

We walked in silence, my heart speeding up with everystep. Okay, she was pissed...but I could do this.

"The sunset looks beautiful doesn't it?" I said, mainly to fill the awkward silence.

"Yes." she said, looking straight ahead. Ugh, this was going to take a while.

"But not as beautiful as you." I finished softly, enjoying the look of surprise on her face. She gained composure quickly though and became serious. Not saying a word but flushing slightly. I sighed and looked at the darkening sky. We were nearing the special spot I picked and she was STILL mad.

"Where are we going?" she finally asked, looking at me.

"Oh, well, I'm glad you asked, actually. We're here!" I gestured to a large wall of vines in front of me. She raised an eyebrow in confusion. I laughed and pulled back the vines, revealing a beautiful pool of water, complete with glittering water falls. The pool was surrounded my lush grass, soft and cool under our paws. Lightning bugs flickered everywhere.

"Oh...my..." Nala breathed, eyes wide, slowly walking out and towards the pool. I felt a smile grow. I LOVED surprising her. "This...this is...this is amazing!" Nala said softly, taking everything in. I laughed softly.

"Yeah, it is." not really looking at our enviorment, I was looking at Nala. Her eyes sparkled with the light of the fireflies and with wonderment. Making the sapphires glitter more than usual. Her lips were curled into a small smile as a firefly landed on her nose. She giggled as it fluttered away, ears slightly back. Ears...ink...INK! I left the ink at Rafiki's! I mentally slapped myself. How could I be so stupid! That was the whole point of me bringing her here!

"Um...I'll be right back." I said, wincing as she looked at me confused. I padded over quickly to the wall of vines and stepped outside only to have the biggest scare of my life!

"Here." Rafiki said, handing me a small bowl, full of orange ink. "You might need dis." he smiled at my embarrased expression and I gratefully took the bowl in one paw and hobbled back inside on three paws, quickly hiding it behind a bush. Nala was laying down at the pools edge, looking into the water.

"Is everything okay?" I asked, laying down next to her.

"Explain."

"What?"

"You said that you would explain the repeal. So, explain." she said, still looking at her reflection and not at me. This was it! This was MY MOMENT! My heart raced and I felt my throat start to close. I cleared it in an attempt to be able to talk.

"The reason that I repealed the law, was because...I love you. With all of my heart."

"But-"

"Ah!" I said, raising a paw. "let me finish! I love you, I always had. I can't go a single moment without you, when I'm with you, I'm home. And when I'm not, I'm dreaming of being close to you, your eyes make me melt, your laugh is music. You have a heart of gold. Everything about you is perfect." my voice wavered slightly but Nala was looking at me wide-eyed, paw on her muzzle, she gasped slightly when I finished and started to say something but I stopped her by sitting up, she sat up and kept staring at me in a unbelieving manner.

"Nala will you be my Queen? My mate? My wife?" I finished by placing my paw on hers, searching her eyes for any hint of an answer. She simply started to shake.

"Oh...my...kings...I...I...OF COURSE!" she yelled, tears of joy slipping down her face. I smiled and laughed. YES! SHE SAID YES! I simply closed the small space between us and kissed her, joy filling every inch of my being. She kissed back and wrapped her arms around my neck, keeping a shaky grip on me, even when we broke apart.

"I love you Simba. I love you. I would be honored." she said. Smiling a mile wide. I smiled and pressed my forehead against hers, loud purrs emanating from both of our chests. She nuzzled my neck and I returned the favor eagerly. Interrupting only when I remembered the ink.

"Oh wait! To make it official! I reached behind the bush and pulled out the ink. Nala gasped and put a paw to her chest.

"Orange?"

"Your favorite." I smiled and shakily dipped my claw into the ink, Nala bended her head so that I could trace the line. I tried to make it as good as I could. It was a bit shaky, but decent.

"My turn." She whispered, reaching down and taking the ink, tracing the half circle around my ear, no easy task because of my mane. Shivers ran down my spine when I felt her claw touch my skin. After she was done, she reached up and kissed me again. I felt my heart speed up and I snaked my arms around her back. We seperated to only look into each other's eyes.  
>I couldn't get enough of her eyes. If I woke up to those eyes every morning, I would be the luckiest lion in the world. Which I was, all things considered. She giggled.<p>

"You wanted to ask me for yourself didn't you?" she asked, touching her nose to mine. I nodded.

"I thought it would be better."

"It was." she said, connecting our lips in a sweet kiss. We laid down eventually, still nuzzling feverishly. It was long dark by the time I actually realized how late it was.

"We should probably get back." I said softly rubbing Nala's back. She purred at the touch but smiled.

"I guess we should." she said, snuggling closer.

"That's a no then?" I asked, licking the top of her head. She sighed.

"No, I think we SHOULD go back..." she said, nuzzling my head. "although I really don't want to...*sigh* you still king and you need to be home in case anything happened." she got up and stretched, yawning. I followed suit.

"Okay, whatever you say, my Queen." I kissed her cheek and she giggled, we walked home, sides touching, nuzzling. My heart was beating furiously fast. She said yes, she was going to be my queen! When we got home, the whole pride was waiting for us. Some cheered a soft congratulations, other were asleep.

"What happened?" I asked my mom.

"You have no idea do you?" she asked, dark lines on her face where tears flowed. "Zira and her group left, we were attacked by outlanders. Simba, they...they took...they took Kiki."

"What? Why would she follow them?"

"She didn't!" Kuju yelled, running down to me, tears rolling down his cheek. "They attacked us, the idiots! They were outnumbered so they all attacked Kiki, since...since she was the best fighter. They threatened to kill her if we didn't back down! So...so we did. she was struggling so they...they" he started to get choked up. "They hit her! They beat her Simba! I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't let me get close! They said that if we followed them, they would kill her, they left with her on one of their backs." he finished with another gasp for breath, a tear rolling down his face. "Simba, we HAVE to follow them!"

**So, tell me what you think! And please, don't just tell me to hurry up and post the next chapter. It gets a bit irritating.**


	5. Chapter 5

**I finally finished it! I did it! Sorry for anyone who hates me because of the long update. I put some stuff in here, fluff, Miko and Tal fluff. Hate me for it or not, I HAD to put it in there. They are both shy and are still discovering the magic of affection. Thanks to anyone who reviewed, shame on anyone who didn't.**

** And now, I give you Chapter 5.**

**ENJOY!**

**SIMBA'S POV**

I cursed under my breath. Zira had finally crossed the line. She had joined with the Outlanders, those who had commited crimes so heinous, that they were punishable by death, the only reason they stayed alive was by the mercy of the kings who exiled them. A mercy I now wished never existed.

"Miko, we can't go after them. We don't know where they went, or where they are right now! And if we do follow them, we would have to be extremely cautious. They threatened to kill her if we did!" Nala said, from my side, when she noticed that I wasn't going to say anything soon.

"What's to say they won't if we don't do anything?" he countered, taking a step towards her. Claws unsheathed. I growled defensivly and stepped foward.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" I calmed down when Kuju shook his head and took a shaky breath. "We will follow them, but we need Miko. Nala, you stay here with Bonsu and Mom, hold down the fort." I motioned for Kuju to follow but Nala jumped in front of me.

"I want to help."

"You can help by staying."

"I meant, that I want to come WITH you guys."

"There's no need. Us three will be plenty enough."

"You don't know that! You have no idea the number of forces that Zira had, you could be walking straight into a trap! You could die! Your not even thinking straight! Miko isn't here!"

I looked around to see Kuju, with a angry expression on his face, and...nothing. I cleared my throat. "I knew that." I turned to Kuju, waving a paw in his face to get his attention. "Do you know where Miko is?"

He looked at me as if waking from a trance. "Um...no. He left with Tal a little after you two dissapeared. They haven't come back yet. He was going to some kind of cave place."

"Wait! They went alone?" Nala exploded

"Yeaah." He replied. "Their not cubs anymore." he rolled his eyes as if it were the most obvious thing. "They probably wanted to-"

"Well, what's to say that Zira won't attack them? Think about it! They took our most gifted fighter and huntress. Tal's almost a full-fledged shaman now! Her worth to those bunch of disease ridden, wound infflicted, outsiders is something to look at!" she spat and immediatly turned to Rafiki, who had arrived when he heard of the attack and was searching the pride for injured lionesses.

"Rafiki! Did Miko ever tell you where he was going?"

"Yes..." he replied, stroking his odd beard thing thoughtfully. "He was going to show her the Caverns of Time. It holds all of the history and legends of our people."

I finally realized the urgency of the situation.

"Nala! Dad brought me there one time for an early King lesson, I know where it is! Kuju, Nala, Jari, Jessikia, follow me!" I took off, towards the Caverns of Time, hearing heavy footfalls behind me. I prayed that we weren't too late.

**MIKO'S POV**

I turned to Tal after watching Simba tear after Nala. She was staring, in disbelief at where Simba left.

"Why on EARTH would he do that?" she said, putting a paw to her head. Mouth hanging open. I laughed.

"He did it so that he could ask her for himself Tal!" I nudged her slightly, enjoying the look of realization that appeared on her face.

"Awww!" she cooed. "That's sooo romantic!" she giggled. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"I actually have a surprise for you." I started, getting excited. "But you have to close your eyes!"

"You do? But, Miko, how am I supposed to see where I'm going?" she asked, although I could see her fighting a smile. I chuckled.

"Alright, I'll carry you when we get close!" I blushed a bit pink and felt my heart flutter when she did so too. We then left for my surprise, the Caverns of Time. I asked Rafiki if there was anywhere special, somewhere with scientific or historical significance. I knew Tal loved that kind of stuff and I wanted to make my proposal extra-special! He helped me when I explained the reason for my asking. The Caverns of Time were perfect! All the history from when our Pride could write, and every fable, legend, and myth! All in one place! I turned my attention to Tal's story, something about Rafiki falling out of the branches. I laughed at the end of the tale and walked closer to her. Enjoying her company.

"By then, I...I...Miko? Is everything okay?" I realized that I was staring and merely smiled, glad for the sunset's brilliant colors hiding my blush.

"Everything's perfect." I rubbed my nose against her cheek, feeling my heart flutter. Nervous and excited at the same time. She giggled softly. I realized how close we were to the caverns. "Hey Tal? Come on, climb on my back, and CLOSE your eyes!" I crouched down slighlty. She giggled and climbed on, arms wrapping around my neck. I blushed red. She buried her head in my mane, sending chills down my spine. I laughed and started running, earning me a delighted squeal from my passenger. I ran in big loping strides, eager to reach the caverns as soon as possible. Finally, I reached a small entrance, the only sign of its singificance a symbol of a rising/setting sun. I felt Tal sliding off my back, still giggling.

"That was fun!" she said, breathless. "We should...where...are we really...?" she touched the symbol and peered inside the dark cave. She looked back at me with curious eyes. I nodded excitedly and motioned for her to enter. She stepped inside and I followed, eager to see her reaction. She was standing a few feet away from me, gazing up at the sides of a huge cavern. Writing was carved on every wall, there were loose slabs of rock and clay resting against the sides. Glowing jewels and stones were in the ceiling and walls every so often, casting a mystical glow on the whole place. And there, behind some stones. Was the ink. Thank you Rafiki!

"This...this is...this is amazing!" she breathed. Looking everywhere. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in an excited disbelief. She turned to me. "Are...are we in the Caverns of time?"

"Mmmhmm." I answered, sitting next to her. "Every event of significance, every story and legend, right here, in these caves." I responded, my words echoing off the walls. She merely laughed.

"This is unbelievable!" she finally reacted and darted towards one of the walls, excitedly reading the words. Then she darted to another one, eyes scanning the wall. She couldn't possibly read that fast!

"Tal! Tal! Calm down!" I laughed, running to catch up to her. "Your gonna get a headache!"

"Oh! I can't stop reading! The first female royal, the Battle of Tiyu, Hiraka and the Hyena King! So many stories!" she laughed giddily and spun in a circle. I laughed along with her. I loved to see her excited! "Oh my goodness! Thank you SOOO much Miko!" she shrieked, running up to me and throwing her arms around my neck, digging her head in my mane. I smiled, put a paw around her back, and rested my head on her's. My face was getting pink and my heart was speeding up. She looked up and smiled. Before I knew it, her lips were against mine, softly, sweetly. We've kissed before but only for a moment, never like this. My eyes shut slowly as I tightened my grip on her back, pulling her closer. My head was foggy, my body was buzzing, and my stomach was fuzzy. Nothing mattered except Tal. This was perfect. Her fruit-like scent invaded my nose, filling my head with even more fog. She was perfect. She finally pulled away, softly, extending the moment as long as possible. It was torture, but it was a good one.

We stood there, just staring. Her face was flushed, but then again, so was mine. The tuft of fur that she called boyish and that she hated but I loved was hanging loosely over her eye, hiding it from my gaze. It was silky and was outlined a faint gold from a nearby stone. Her ears were pressed against her head, oval instead of their usual round, the tips of her slightly protruding cheekbones were a light pink, her nose thinner than others, fading into a lighter tan at the end. Her eyes, gods her eyes! They were large and the area around them was the same light tan as her muzzle and under belly. They were soil-brown, rimmed with a lighter brown, they were always focused on something. They were framed with large black lashes. She was perfect.

How was I so lucky to have a lioness like her? The thought brought a shiver down my spine.

"My pleasure." I whispered, when I could finally talk. She smiled shyly and pulled away, a light blush on her face. I cleared my head of the foggy feeling and remembered why I brought Tal here in the first place. "Wait right here!" I said, jogging up to where I remembered the ink being. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I could do this. I heard a gasp and chuckled.  
>Tal probably found some special story. I turned around, hiding the ink behind me to find...nothing. Tal was gone.<p>

"Tal?" I asked. Where did she go? She couldn't have dissapeared! "Tal?" I was getting worried, she wasn't the type of animal to play a trick! Was what going on?

"MI-"

Pain. It started at the base of my neck and quickly spread to my head.

Dark. It was starting at the edges at my vision and creeping to cover the world.

Yells. Growls and screams echoed in my brain. They were getting far away. What...happened?

**TAL'S POV**

It was amazing! All of the history, all of the stories, all here! I couldn't help myself and jumped from wall to wall, scanning over the information. It was awsome!

"Oh! I can't stop reading! The first female royal, the Battle of Tiyu, Hiraka and the Hyena King! So many stories!" I laughed and spun in a circle on the pads of my paws. Miko laughed with me. MIKO! He brought me here! "Oh my goodness! Thank you SOOO much Miko!" I squealed excitedly. I ran up to him and through my arms around him, digging my head into his mane, breathing in his grassy scent. Best surprise ever! He let out a surprised "oomph" sound when I gave him the hug, but I felt him wrap an arm around me, bringing a blush to my cheeks and an idea to my head.

Kiss him.

I bit my lip in worry. I WOULD do it, we never really kissed before, just quick pecks, and usually in front of others. It was lame, I know, but a combination of two shy lions, wasn't a very good one. Even when he curled around me at night, he would always dissapear before I would wake up! It was frustrating. So, mustering every ounce of courage I had, I looked up and touched my lips to his, softly, waiting for his reaction. My insides went crazy and my heart sped up to a dangerous rate. I pulled him closer, never wanting the kiss to end. This was going to happen alot more often. He kissed back sweetly, tightening his grip on my back, making my stomach fill with butterflies. I LOVED HIM. Finally, I pulled away, needing to breathe, but slowly, never wanting the light feeling to go away. When we did seperate, he was pink, breathing a bit heavily, and staring at me. His paw was still resting on my back, and it was shaky. I just looked at him, drinking up his electric blue eyes, feeling the butterflies in my stomach fly around in a frenzy. Neither of us spoke, still frozen. Our bodies still pressed lightly, his muzzle simply inches from mine. I was a bit embarassed, even though he obviously liked it.

"My pleasure." he whispered, finally speaking. I smiled and pulled away, feeling my face heat up. He merely shook his head and gave me a look like if waking from a trance. "Wait right here!" he left happily towards a pile of stones and I watched, curious. What was he up to? I heard a voice.

"Hello." It was low, almost inaudible. I whipped my head around to see two ruby eyes. I let out a gasp, out of fright. Who else was here? They shot out a paw and covered my muzzle, claws extended. I tried to pull away but the claws caught my skin, pain spreading through my face. They smiled, twisting their arm so that my back was pressed against their chest, their head next to mine. We were hidden in the shadows, Miko turned around, looking nervous, then confused.

"Tal?"

"Don't say a word, and we won't kill him." the lion whispered, claws digging deeper into my muzzle, drops of blood seeping down my face. Fear gripped my heart and turned it cold.  
>Who was this? What did she want with me? I then saw a lioness, scars running down her back, poised behind Miko, hidden in the shadows.<p>

"Tal?" he asked, voice wavering. He was scared, worried. I nodded feverishly, sending the message that I would go with them, do whatever, but they couldn't hurt Miko. The lion who was holding me merely chuckled.

"Good girl." they nodded and the lioness behind Miko smiled a twisted smile and raised their paw, claws extended. They said they wouldn't hurt him! I quickly grabbed the paw on my muzzle and yanked it off, my heart pounding.

"MI-" I screamed, praying that he would turn around in time, praying that he would knock that lioness down and survive! But that didn't happen. The lioness's paw connected with his neck, with a thump sound that seemed to echo in my mind again and again. He swayed on his feet before crumpling to the ground. The world turned white and fuzzy around the edges.  
>He was dead, I'm sure he was.<p>

"Would you SHUT UP!" the lioness said. I then realized that I was screaming. I whirled around.

"You said you wouldn't hurt him!" I advanced towards the lioness, fangs bared.

"Ah ah ah!" she said, raising a paw in the air, "I said we wouldn't KILL him." She walked over to Miko, nudging him with a paw, making his head look up at her. I ran foward but two more lionesses jumped from the shadows and blocked my path. Where did they come from? Where they here the whole time? "He'll be a little disoriented at first, but he'll survive." She turned to me. "The others shouldn't be far...come." she walked away but my eyes stayed glued to where Miko layed, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. I wanted nothing more than to run to him and dig my head in his neck, to bring him to Rafiki so that he could be okay. I wanted to help. I wanted to rip the foriegn lioness to shreds. The lioness noticed my lack of attention.

"OI!" she yelled. "Get your ass over here or your boyfriend doesn't see another sunrise!" I bit my lip and merely nodded and followed her. What did she mean by others? What did she want from me? So many 'whats', and no answers.

**NALA'S POV**

We've been running for a half-hour now. I wondered if we would ever get there! The outlanders were obviously taking the lionesses who held important positions. Tal was next! I was sure of it! Simba finally stopped in front of a rock formation and we stopped. He looked worried.

"What is it?" I asked. Why weren't we going inside? We needed to see if they were still in there! If they needed help!

"You stay out here." he responded, still looking at a small cave entrance, avoiding my gaze.

"What? Why?"

"Because we need someone to look out for outlanders coming from the grass."

"And why can't Jari do it?"

"B-b-because!" he countered. I rolled my eyes. He was trying to protect me again, I knew it! I opened my mouth to protest but Jessikia interrupted.

"OH FOR KINGS SAKES!" everyone jumped at her outburst. "Jari, you stay here with Nala, and Simba, Kuju, and I will go inside and find Miko and Tal perfectly fine, probably making out or something." she had a paw on her forhead, exasperated. Simba merely nodded and went inside, not even waiting for my response. The others followed. As soon as they dissapeared, I swiped at the ground in frustration, sending up a spray of dirt.

"Oh that-that- SIMBA!" I growled, pacing.

"Something wrong Nala?" Jari asked, amused.

"Look, Jari, it's just that I love him but he can be soo stubborn sometimes! He acts like-like if I NEED protection! Like if I'm a cub!" I took a deep breath and counted to ten.

"Males." Jari said, looking up at the plains. "They try our patience." her face remained stony, the only sign of emotion was in her eyes. They sparkled with amusement and something else. I couldn't quite place it, but it unsettled me. It sent a shudder echoing through my body. Why did it bother me so much? Was it because she looked like Scar? My mother told me that she was Scar's daughter. I didn't believe it at first but after a while, it was easy to see. Simba reacted much better than I thought he would. He smiled and hugged her, saying that he was glad to have more family. He even started calling Livali Auntie Livali! It was unbelievable, how he took some things so lightly but got all worked up when I wanted to go INSIDE A CAVE!

A movement in the grass.

It was a rustle, just a rustle, but it was enough. My ears perked forward and my eyes widened, my muscles tightened.

"Did you see-" I started. I didn't get to finish because a dark blur shot forward. I raised my paw, claws at the ready to knock them to the ground. That never happened, something hit me first. The world went fuzzy. I tried grabbing unto reality but it was slipping away like water running through my toes. I growled in frustration as my legs turned to jelly. What hit me?  
>What happened? I WOULD NOT pass out! I whirled my head around. And saw a blur of colors. Then it hit me.<p>

Simba proposed. I was the future queen.

They came for me.

The world went black.

**SIMBA'S POV**

I could just...ugh! Females! I loved Nala. I really did but she was just so..so..stubborn! Couldn't she see that I was trying to protect her! Kings know whats inside that cave and she just insisted on coming inside. I almost let out a growl, but caught myself. I would not show my anger. I would NOT! The short tunnel opened up to a humungous cavern, writing on every wall. Stones and jewels glowed mysteriously, casting beautiful streams of light but creating ominous shadows. I looked around, looking for Miko and Tal. Where were they?

"Simba..." Jessikia breathed, looking at the ground. "Theres a trail...of..of some liquid." she bent over and sniffed the dark substance. "It smells like...like lions." Kuju and I looked at each other with wide, fearing eyes. Both scared of what it could be. I cautiously touched the strange liquid and held it to a nearby glowing stone.

Purple Ink.

I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't blood. Thank the kings. But it was purple ink...Miko. He asked me about ink before I announced the law. The only ink Rafiki was making besides mine was purple.

"Jessikia...what's Tal's favorite color?" I asked, trying to see where the trail led.

"Um...purple I think. Why?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. I found the trial and immediatly followed it. I never answered. We all silently followed the thin trail, a billion questions buzzing in our brains. Finally, we reached the end of the trail. It led behind some boulders. I took a deep breathe and went behind the boulder. Someone had taken a glowing stone and positioned it next to a body. It was crumpled in an awkward position, its side rising and falling in shallow breaths. The lion was a light gold with a orangish red color, slightly brown mane.

Miko.

Kuju immdiatly made a move to get to him but I stopped him. In front of Miko was a message, written in purple ink.

_All hail King Scar._

_Beware_


	6. Chapter 6

**Wow. Looong time since I updated. I apologize if this chapter is anti-climatic but I had trouble writing it. That, and I couldn't get on the site for a couple of days...so I lost inspiration...sadness. But I'm back and ready to write! So, as usual, please review and tell me how I'm doing.**

**Enjoy!**

**KUJU'S POV**

_All hail King Scar._

_Beware_

What did that mean? All hail King Scar? Were they insane? I looked at Miko, who was stirring, letting out a pained groan. Simba seemed to snap out of a trance and rushed forward,  
>jumping over the creepy message, and rolled Miko on his back.<p>

"Miko?" he asked, unpinning his arm from under him, trying to make him more comfortable. Jessikia jumped over and helped. I just stayed there, reading the message again and again.

"Tal?" Miko whispered. "Tal!" he rushed up but lost his footing and fell, Jessikia held him up. "She was..gone!" He tried to move again but Simba eased him down on his haunches. Miko put a paw to his head and groaned again.

"Miko.." Simba began, trying to keep his calm. "What happened?"

Miko looked at him as if just noticing he was there. "I-I..I don't know." he looked at the ground and read the message. Upside down. I envied his smarts. "Oh kings..." he breathed. Simba took a deep breath, as if trying to keep his calm.

"Miko, you have to remember something! Anything? We need to know!"

"I told Tal to wait over...on the other side of this boulder I think, and I came to get the ink...I heard her gasp...and then I turned around. She was gone. I called her name a couple times,  
>there wasn't an answer...then... screams, growls...alot of noise...after that...nothing. I wake up to see you guys." He gripped his head again, as if remembering hurt him. A tear fell from his eye, splashing on the ground. "I couldn't...I couldn't save her."<p>

"Can you walk?" Jessikia asked softly, still not letting him go.

"Yeah.." He said, wiping away a tear. He always was over protective of Tal. He, for some reason, thought that he was responsible for her safety. I could only imagine how he felt. I knew how mad, no..angry, no! PISSED. NO! Even worse, I was when they beat Kiki. How hopeless I felt because I couldn't help, I couldn't save her. Simba stayed silent. Then he looked panicked.

"NALA!" he suddenly bounded by me, faster than I thought possible. What happened? Jessikia simply shrugged and helped Miko forward. He hobbled a little but walked okay enough.  
>Suddenly an angry roar echoed from outside.<p>

Simba.

**SIMBA'S POV**

Miko was okay, just a bit dazed. But he couldn't remembered what happened. That was a downside. Tal wasn't anywhere we could see, and Miko said that she was gone. Bringing me to Nala's former theory. The outlanders were taking the lions with importance. They took Tal. I could only imagine what my friends were going through right now, having the lionesses they loved kidnapped by Outlanders. Then, a horrifying thought entered my brain.

Nala.

She was important! She was the future Queen! My heart sped up. They were taking the lionesses most important. Nala. Fear turned its icy grip on me.

"NALA!" I shouted, running forward, not caring if I stepped on the message, just caring about seeing Nala okay. She HAD to be okay! I slipped on a small pebble and growled at my own clumsiness. Why couldn't I be fast enough? I finally reached the tunnel and burst out into the open, greeted by a cool breeze and a dark sky, turning lighter at the edges. Dawn was coming. I looked around frantically, willing my eyes to adjust quickly. When they finally did, I was faced with a horrific sight.

Nothing.

She wasn't there. No one was. There weren't even paw prints or tracks. Just dirt that seemed swiped with a giant leaf. Clean. She was gone. I stayed frozen for merely a second before letting out all of my frustration, all of my anger, all of my hate for those pathetic excuses for lions in one. Big. Roar. I clawed the rock wall behind me, creating a teeth rattling screech.  
>They took her! Even when I tried to keep her safe, I failed! I shut my eyes hard, stopping the tears threatening to overflow. Nala...she was gone. I felt a hollow feeling in my chest. An ache.<p>

What happened to her? Was she hurt? Oh kings, they were probably torturing her as I stood here!

"Simba?" Kuju asked, padding up to me, blinking in the bright morning light. I felt the sun start to warm my pelt. I growled. How dare the sun be so warm! So bright! So cheery! "What?..  
>...where's Jari? Where's Nala?" he looked around, eyes widening in understanding. Jari was the last thing on my mind. I should be ashamed. I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down as much as possible.<p>

"They...they probably took them." I said, well...more like growled. Jessikia came out of the tunnel with Miko hobbling behind. They both looked around with wide eyes before turning fearfully to me.

"Did th-"

"Yes." I answered simply, looking at the horizon. It was flat, nothing stuck out, no one was there. Where did they go? Was it possible to dissapear?

"Well..." Miko asked, testing out his paws by standing on all of them. "what are we going to do?"

"We'll go after them."

**KIKI'S POV**

It was a simple afternoon. Simba had ran after Nala who had misinterpreted Simba's decision to abolish the betrothal law and probably thought that he didn't love her anymore. But Simba would catch her, tell her, set the record sraight. Then they would walk in, all engaged and in love, their problems worked out. They always seemed to fix things. I smiled at the thought. They were the dream couple.

"How long do you think it'll take for Simba and Nala to make up?" Kuju asked, sitting next to me. I laughed and nudged him with my shoulder.

"Not very long. They ARE Simba and Nala." I looked at Kuju, laughing at his smirk. Not as cheeky as Simba but, still. Just enough to make me want to smack him and hug him at the same time.

"True, very true." He put a paw to his chin. "They could be wanting to kill each other one second, then, one mushy look and kiss later, they're cool." he smiled at me. I smiled back. We were together now. He told me that he loved me a week ago. A HUGE shock but I excitedly returned to statement, ending up in one big liplock. I felt a light blush appear on my cheeks at the thought. He smiled and nuzzled me softly. My heart fluttered. THIS is what I've been missing all of this time. This was perfect.

"Kiki!" a lioness called. I looked back to find some lionesses struggling while dragging the kill up Priderock. I shot Kuju an apolegetic smile and bounded off to help. I wasn't part of the hunt today. Simba wanted to give another lioness the chance to lead. When we got the kill up the ramp, we heard a deafening roar.

Lionesses.

All of them, skinny to the point of being ridiculous and covered in scars. They all seemed to appear, out of the shadows, slinking out from behind boulders and matieralizing from patches of black. I got on the defensive. Claws out, fanges bared, muscles pulled taught. Several lionesses did the same. Who were these lions?

"Sarabi..." one started. She had ruby eyes, a missing chunk in her ear. She could have been Zira! Except she didn't have that brown line on her head. She stepped forward and Sarabi did the same, never averting her eyes from the invaders.

"What do you want Humiri?" she spat the lionesses name as if it was a piece if spoiled meat. Humiri? I've never heard of her.

"Simply taking what belongs to me." she replied, smiling and taking a deep breath. "Ah...home."

"Nothing belongs to you Humiri! This belongs to us, the ones who stayed loyal! Not you and your traitor followers!" she growled, I saw the muscles under her skin, tense and coil up

"Actually.." a grating voice interrupted, "I agree." Zira came up behind Humiri and flashed a pointy toothed smile at Sarabi. "Since Scar was of royal blood sh-" I lost it.

"We have the rightful king on the throne as we speak! Zira, he's been doing a fantastic job! You've seen him yourself! HE IS ROYAL BLOOD! HE'S THE SON OF MUFASA!" I took a step foward and was about to pounce when a paw pushed slightly on my shoulder. I turned to see Kuju, nodding his head no, ever so slightly. I shook his paw off, growling, and turned back to Zira.

"We beg to differ." she retorted calmly. The odd lionesses immediatly growled and stepped forward.

"You are outnumbered Zira." Sarabi warned, the rest of the pride stepping behind her to illustrate her point. There were about 7 more of us than there were of them.

"Of course. I always think ahead dear Sarabi." she turned her fiery eyes to me. I raised an eyebrow in confusion. Suddenly, two lionesses I hadn't noticed before jumped on me, biting and clawing at my body, spreading a painful fire sensation throughout my body. I roared in pain and tried to throw them off, slashing at them, biting with my fangs bared! But the pain persisted, their teeth and claws digging into my flesh, bringing small streams of crimson flowing down my body. Suddenly, the pain stopped and I found myself with my back on the dirt ground and my head facing the clouds and someone's scraggly chest. Their was presssure on my neck where their paw was. I tried to breathe but only a small amount of air made it into my lungs. The paw was pressed hard. The world started to fade and I despretly tried to shove their paw off with my own. They simply pressed harder. Strength seeped from my body and all of my gashes burned. I squirmed under her grip and screams, growls and roars echoed far off.

"You should really stop struggling." someone said harshly. I think it was Humiri. I wasn't sure. My lungs were screaming and it was hard to think. I simply swiped up as far as I could. I heard an evil chuckle and a blow was dealt to my side. I winced as I felt a bruise form. I breathed in another small breath, taking in as much air as possible before another blow, this time to my chest., knocked it out again. I curled into a ball as the blows kept coming and I took small ragged breaths, the world finally blacking out comepletely.

What kind of fighter was I? If I couldn't save myself?

**So, review please! I need a pick me up after my few days without you guys!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Omigosh! Sooo sorry for the SUPER late update but teachers/honors classes have something against me! When will they learn that we have LIVES? *clears thoat* Sorry about that. But another slice of bad news, I will be leaving fanfiction for a week. NO more than that. So expect an even slower update. XD sorry!**

**ENJOY!**

**JESSIKIA'S POV**

Was he crazy? Follow them? They didn't even know where they went!

"Simba..." I began, trying to find the words to calm him down and bring SOME sense into that rash brain of his! "I don't think that's a very good idea."

"And why isn't it?" he growled, whipping his head to look at me. I flinched but held my ground. "DO YOU WANT THEM TO KILLL HER? DON'T YOU CARE?" he didn't look sane.

"DON'T YOU EVEN DARE TO SAY THAT AGAIN!" I screamed. Taking a step towards him and standing to my full height. Which was still considerably shorter than him. Nala was like my sister, she was the only female I knew for years. Tal and Kiki were my best friends. They were all my family. I WOULD NOT stand there while he even THOUGHT I didn't care. He lost that crazy gleam in his eye. It faded away slowly. And his claws hid themselves. He looked to the stars as a single tear slid down his face. I had won this standoff.

"Why then?" he sighed, still angry but less menacing.

"Because! You don't even know where they went! And even if you did, you would be racing into outlander territory! They aren't normal lions Simba! You know what they can do." I took a deep breath at the end of my rant. And supported Miko, who was gripping his head, then the back of his neck in pain. "Look at Miko! He needs to see Rafiki!" I sighed. I was trying every possible angle to get Simba to listen to reason. He finally looked at Miko, me then at Kuju, who was just staring at us, eyes wide in surprise, and sighed. It was a deep, hurt sigh.  
>One that I could tell was an accepting one. I felt a wave of relief wash over me. He wasn't going to go on a suicide mission.<p>

"Alright. We'll go back to Priderock. We'll get Rafiki to check Miko, then see where to go from there." he was talking to us, but looking at the stars, sounding very disconnected from the real world. I nodded and fought a smile. "Miko..." Simba asked, looking at the direction of home, "Can you walk?" he glanced back at Miko, who was shaking his head softly. He simply nodded. With that, we began walking back home.

Although we really wanted to run.

**JARI'S POV**

I looked at Nala's limp body and licked my paw of the small amount of blood that was there. Nala wasn't dead, at least not yet, she was just injured. Small lines of crimson crossed the back of her neck where my claws tore her skin.

"I would have been able to do it you know." a lioness growled. It was one of Humiri's minions, I comepletey forgot her name. I simply smiled slightly and gave my paw a final lick.

"She had her paw ready to smash your face in. I simply did you a favor."

"Yeah whatever. You DO know Humiri and Zira are gonna have your head for hurting Nala right?" she picked Nala up on her back and dissapeared inside a hidden tunnel in the rock wall. shook my head and followed.

"Do you really think I'm intimidated by them?" I answered softly, not wanting the others to hear me. I heard a vaugue echo of 'NALA!' and rolled my eyes. I loved Simba and all, but he was making it really hard to not kill his little 'fiance' right here and there. He should have been shouting MY name. No one elses. As we walked down the small tunnel, I heard far off echoes of hushed whispers. It must have been Humiri and Zira. I hoped that they had kidnapped Tal successfully. If not, there would be problems. Nala took a big breath suddenly, then moaned something that sounded like 'simba'

"Nala?" someone shouted suddenly. It was followed by a shout of pain and a loud thump. I could only guess that Tal had heard Nala, and Humiri (stupidly) ecided that rendering her unconcious was the best option. Idiot. I rolled my eyes and sped up. Tal was the shaman-lady we needed CONCIOUS. She was going to be the one to heal the wounds and give us the dream link. I was still a bit confused as to what the dream link was exactly, but I knew that it was an important part of our plan. Finally, we reached a small cave, a small circular chamber. I saw Zira scowling and Humiri looking extremely annoyed and haughty.

"You couldn't have followed orders this once?" Zira growled as she looked at our exit tunnel and back at Humiri, before gesturing to a limp Tal on the back of a lioness.

"She was going to see Jari and piece together that she provided us with all of the information. I was taking a security measure." She rolled her eyes as if it was a simple fact and started down the tunnel that led to the outlands.

"And what could have POSSIBLY been a result of her knowing that? Single-pawdly take us all and rescue Nala?" Zira countered, following. I sighed heavily, this was going to be a long trip back.

_1 hour later..._

I was ABSOLUTELY right. Their "battle of wits" lasted until we got to their Termite mound castle-like structure. Then, they turned their attention to our prisinors. All three of the girls laid slumped on the ground. Humiri sent them to be held in a small cave, guards at the narrow, tunnel-like entrance. It would take a while, but when Tal woke up, we would aquire the dream-link. And the plan would be in full swing.

It was curiosity about the dream-link that led me to Zira's small private 'den' that night, when everyone was asleep. I ususally didn't go to her, or anyone for that matter, for information,I usually just figured it out myself. But in this case, when I was miles away from Rafiki's tree and I was supposedly 'kidnapped', I had to resort to extreme measures.

"What exactly IS the dream-link?" I asked when I got inside. Zira looked up from the dirt ground with a condecending look on her face.

"You don't know?" she asked, acting incredulous.

"Oh just explain it!" I snapped.

"Fine then, O' Princess," she growled, annoyed, "The dream-link is simply an odd potion or concoction of some sort that one lion drinks while thinking about another lion or animal in general and then, you get transported to their dreams. If you have a strong mind, you can control their dreams. It takes practice to accomplish but Rafiki was an excellent dream dream-link isn't new, he used it when I was young...er." here she paused, a far off look in her eyes. "He would use it to help people get over their fears or learn an enemy's fear. He used it on Scar actually." she paused again, sounding hurt. "He used it to push Scar away from me. King Ahadi thought that I was a bad influence. He-he got into his mind that he loved another." here she suddenly exploded. "I'M SURE OF IT!" She was breathing heavily and her eyes gleamed with hate.

I took a step back and thanked her for the explanation. I wasn't so sure that Scar was TRICKED into loving another, Zira was a bit delirious. But her explanation helped me understand the plan. We were going to infilrate the boy's dreams and make them think their 'loves' were in dire peril, and make them feel hopeless. Make them hurt, make them feel a deep, inconsolable hurt that makes them bleed slowly...on the inside. I knew that hurt very well. Every day after I returned from the Outlands, the hurt would attack me, take a bite out of my heart. Every moment that I saw Simba walking past, it reminded me that he wasn't mine. And it was all HER fault! I spat next to Nala as I passed their little 'den' and recieved some odd looks from their sentries. I scowled and kept walking. It was all NALA'S FAULT. I wanted to tear her apart everytime I saw her, everytime I heard her name, I wanted to punch something.

But I survived. Because I had hope. I had THIS. This plan was my hope. But the boys...they would have none.

**MIKO'S POV**

We had walked all of the way back to Priderock. Hate for the outlanders building with every step, in every one of our hearts. Simba remained silent, his expression stony. I could tell that he wasn't here. Not entirely. He was deep in his mind, thinking...I had no idea. But he stayed in his far-off state the whole time, from when we got to Priderock and were attacked by worried mothers and curious pride members. He remained distant through Rafiki helping me with my injuries and filling everyone in on what happened. I didn't blame him. I wanted to be anywhere but where I was. Here, surrounded by my 'family', when really, the only person I wanted...was in the paws of some phsycopathic lioness. I mentally kicked myself. How could I let them take her so easily? But I couldn't get wrapped up in my own thoughts. We all felt betrayed and hopless. It wasn't just me.

"We're going after them." Simba said decidedly. We all turned to look at him, surprised. Sarabi was the first to speak.

"Simba, sweetie..." she began, lookin uncertain. "I already sent scouts ahead to go after Zira, but they lost her scent at the river. There isn't any way to know where they went." She attempted to comfort Simba, but he pulled away, appalled.

"So that's it?" he asked, beggining to look mad, "Your just going to give up?"

"Simba I don't-" Sarabi began

"NO!" he exploded, "NALA and-and Tal and Kiki are SOMEWHERE out there, in the paws of Zira! ZIRA! Who KNOWS what they're doing to them! And-and-and you want to tell me that there's NO WAY to know where they went? To FORGET it?"

"I wasn't going to tell you to give up." Sarabi said annoyed, cutting his rant short. Simba stopped in his tracks and went wide-eyed. "I was going to tell you that you would need to be careful and to bring extra help. You wouldn't be able to save them yourself, or with just Miko and Kuju." at this statement, Simba looked embarrased at snapping at his mother and I was a bit offended that she thought we couldn't be enough help.

"Sarabi's right." Jessikia said, "You need extra help. I'll come with!" she shot us an excited smile. William immediatly interrupted.

"Oh no your not! It's much too dangerous!" he jogged up to Jessikia and protested. Jessikia looked annoyed. She opened her mouth to respond but Simba cut her response short.

"William needs to stay here to help ward off invaders or rouges. Jessikia can come. Me, Kuju, Miko, and Jessikia are going to rescure the girls. Mom, you take care of the kingdom while I'm gone and Bonsu will help William." he looked outside the den where the sun was already high in the sky. William looked uneasy but Sarabi nodded. I looked around and saw no one moving.

"Well?" I asked standing, "What are we waiting for?" I smiled and walked up to Simba. He looked at me and smiled slightly.

"Nothing." and with that, we all left. Towards what exactly? We had no idea.

**Hah hah! What's gonna happen? Your gonna have to wait a while to find out! Hope you don't hate me too much or think that the story is moving too slowly. XD Please review! *puppy dog eyes* Pwease?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello! I'm back! And I've brought a new chapter with me! Now, I could go on a lengthy explanation on how my computer had a virus and I couldn't get it fixed for an ETERNITY (canceling any plans for a Xmas special), and how my teachers gave me an INSANE amount of homework (which I haven't even finished)...but I won't! I will merely give you this new chapter as a peace offering and hope that you will forgive me. Because, sadly, I don't control my whirlwind of a life (I would like to though)**

**NALA'S POV**

The first thing I thought when I came to was that my ear itched. Not exactly what I was expecting but my ear was REALLY itchy! I flicked my ear in annoyance and the itching stopped. I groggily opened my eyes and saw some small shafts of light that came from minute holes in the ceiling. Which, I realized looking up, was very, _very_ far above my head.

Then, the itching returned.

I groaned, irritated, and put a paw to my ear to scratch it. That was a mistake. My arm felt stiff and sore, a dull throb went through my body when I moved. I winced as I put my arm back where it was before slowly (and painfully) de-twisting my body. For some reason, I was dumped on the ground harshly, my body contorted into odd I was finally laying on my belly, I heard a buzzing noise. I shook my head trying to clear the buzzing, and saw a termite fly out of my ear and onto the ground. I panicked and let out a girlish shriek. IT WAS IN MY EAR! I jumped up, felt the soreness return, and laid back down, looking around for any more body-invasive insects. Instead, I heard a voice.

"Nala?" It shakily asked. "Are you okay?" the voice came from a vauguely lion-shaped shadow. It didn't sound hostile so I answered truthfully.

"Yes," I said, mentally checking my whole body, "I'm alright." It was true, nothing was broken, I was just REALLY, REALLY hungry.

"Thank the kings!" The voice breathed, stepping into one of the small shafts of light. The voice belonged to a light-green eyed lioness. Kiki.

"Kiki!" I squealed, hopping up and nuzzling her, ignoring the bruise-like feeling that enveloped my body. "Are you okay? What happened? Where are we?" I hissed, trying to get as much information as I could. She simply laughed.

"I can't answer all these questions Nala!" she whispered back, "Mostly because I'm just as clueless as you are." she looked down sadly. I smiled sympathetically and looked around.

"Is anyone else here?" The small ammount of light wasn't helping me determine the size of the place where we were or if-

"N-n-nala..." someone groaned, "A-a-are you o-o-okay?" It was Tal's voice!

"Yeah, where are you Tal?" I took a step towards her voice.

"O-o-over here." she called. I trotted to my right before tripping over a small body. Tal!

"Hey!" she protested softly "No need to get hurt!" she giggled and stood up slowly while I picked myself off of the floor with a small groan of pain. I did NOT need that fall. We all then sat in a small circle underneath the largest shaft of light (which provided enough light to see each other's faces) to determine what to do next.

"Okay," Tal started, "What do we do?"

"Find a way out!" Kiki answered eagerly before taking slow steps towards her left. Me and Tal followed suit and found the walls to our 'cell'. It wasn't very big. Only about 2 yards in length, and 3 yards in width. Or around that, it was a weird shape, like some jacked up rectangle. Tal let out a loud shriek.

"Tal! What happened?" I ran over towards her scream before colliding with the wall and gripping my head in pain. "ow..."

"A bug! There was a bug on my back!" She squealed before bumping into me. I rolled my eyes.

"A bug? Really?"

"Yes! And there's more on the wall! Ah!" she ran towards the large shaft of light we were at earlier and stared wide-eyed at her previous location. Sure enough, there, walking on a neat line on the wall next to me, was a line of termites. I grimaced. Those were the same bugs that were in my ear when I first woke up. That's when I had a startling realization.

"Well, There's no way out." Kiki said sadly. "We're trapped!"

"No we're not!" Tal rolled her eyes. "There has to be some kind of entrance to somewhere, otherwise, we couldn't be...wherever we are in the first place!"

"The Outlands." I stated, looking at the termites crawling on the wall. "We're in the Outlands."

"How did you-"

"Only one place has termite mounds big enough to be able to house rooms like these." I gestured to the craggly walls, which, now that my eyes adjusted, were CRAWLING with termites.

"Okay, the Outlands. That much is clear. But WHY are we here and WHO put us here?" Tal responded, looking uneasily at the walls. I looked at Kiki.

"You were taken first. Kuju told us you were attacked by Zira and her followers. What exactly happened?" I asked, scared of what I was about to hear.

"Zira and her followers decided to try to take the Pridelands...they had someone with them...a lioness called Humiri." Kiki answered. I cocked my head curiously.

"Humiri?" I asked. "Who's she?" I would have thought that I would know her. Addmittedly, ever since we came back, I had been trying to memorize every lioness so that I would be able to adress their problems directly...and become a better Queen, (If I did become Queen, which looked very unlikely now, considering if we would live) and I've never heard of Humiri.

"Heck if I know." Kiki muttered, pawing the ground, "She just showed up saying that she came to take what belonged to her."

"Wait a minute," Tal suddenly intterupted, a scared look on her face, "What did Humiri look like?" her voice shook. What was scaring her so much? despite the fact that we were in a random chamber in the Outlands, right after waking up from being attacked by mysterious lions.

"She was basically a carbon copy of Zira, without the brown stripe thing."

"No..." Tal breathed, taking short shallow breaths. "It can't be!" she gripped her chest with one paw and her eyes were wide with fear. I put a paw on her shoulder, scared that she was acting this frightened.

"Tal! Tal! Get a hold of yourself! What is it?" I shook her slightly and she whimpered.

"Nala...Humiri is Zira's sister, the leader of the Seconds revolution."

**SIMBA'S POV**

I fidgeted in place as Rafiki motioned for us to join him in his tree. We've already wasted enough time! We didn't need any more distractions or delays! But he said this was important so I followed after Miko, Kuju, and Jessikia, praying that this wasn't going to set us back too long.

"You know dis, you don't need any person to tell you. But dese...Outlanders. Dey are not normal lions." Rafiki looked sadly at the stars, which were visible through gaps in the leaves.

"Tell me about it!" I growled, scratching the bark underneath my paws. _This_ is what he had to tell me? "They manage to sneak into Priderock undetected, kidnap several lionesses then know EXACTLY where we were going and kidnap Nala from a mere 10 FEET AWAY then just-" I started to pace inside the relatively small chambers and had knocked over some small bowls and gourds, covering a corner in different colored pastes and powders. Rafiki gave me a glare that froze every bone in my body.

"I know what dey have done Simba." he said in a serious tone. I nodded and sat where I started. Kuju was next to me, eyes glossy with unshed tears. Remembering what happened. Rafiki grabbed a large turtle shell and grabbed some of the powders that were now spilled on the floor, mixing them, muttering words so low that I couldn't hear. But I heard something else.

Voices.

They came from all around. Or mabye my head. Voices that whispered _"For the Seconds"_ over and over again! I panicked, thinking that I was going insane! The chant striked fear into my heart, as if it had a deeper meaning than just a title. Then there were more voices. I felt my heart pound, sure that I heard shouts and screams, faint ones, but they were there! I swallowed a growing lump in my throat. Looking at my friends for signs that I WASN'T going insane.

"What?" Miko breathed, looking around wildly. Kuju was lightly gripping his head. Jessikia had her eyes closed and was whispering a prayer, quivering with fear. Good, so they head the voices too.

"Dey have all surrendered demselves to a cause," Rafiki told, voice low and ominous, oblivious to our panick. "One dat tore families apart. One dat tested bonds of love with such ferocity dat it shattered many hearts and dreams. Dis cause...De Seconds Revolution." with those words, a shudder went through my body. Why did it bother me so much? It sounded vaugely familiar...a story went with those words, always told sadly and softly, no matter who told it.

"The Seconds Revolution?" Miko asked, looking uneasy, "The Seconds took them?"

Rafiki nodded slowly. I just raised an eyebrow and tapped my paw. I was confused, impatient, and frightened. This..."Seconds" apparently had taken what mattered most to me. And I had no idea who they were!

"Who are the Seconds?" I burst when it was apparent that Miko was stuck muttering 'No' under his breath over and over again. Rafiki took a long breath and pulled a necklace from white beard-like thing. On it, there was a pendant.

A star.

He looked at it like it was the most pitiful thing he ever laid eyes on. When he started speaking, his voice cracked and faltered. I had never seen the mandrill this emotional over something.

"De Seconds Revolution started with a simple spark. A seed. A dangerous thing. **Jealousy**. It consumed a lion. It consumed dem to the point of insanity. dey...dey tought that they deserved something dat deir sibling had. But instead of taking de right path and finding a peaceful way to settle deir differences, they talked to others in similar positions. Dey talked to other _'Seconds'_ and convinced dem dat war was the way. Dey went everywhere, planting de same seed dat wormed its way into deir heart into the hearts of others and slowly infected dem until dey were unrecognizable to deir own families..." here he paused and I saw a single crystal tear roll down his rough cheek. It was there, in the dim moonlight, that I realized just how much he had seen, how much life had battered him, how much he had suffered.

"Den dey fought. Dey declared war. In their own _home_ dey fought. Dey destroyed. Dey denied themselves de title of 'Pridelanders"...dey called demselves the Seconds. But de Kings would not let such a corrupt cause win. So dey sent a single star down to Earth. One of de Kings came and gave each and every Pridelander renewed strength, renewed hope, a new cause to fight. He gave dem a promise." here he looked at me with a small smile. A sad one. One that spoke so much with one small gesture.

"The promsie that the line of kings in place would be one of the best. That everything would work. That Mufasa...that he would be the next Mohatu." Here I gulped. My dad? He was involved in this? I suddenly had a million more questions than I began with.

"With Dis, de Pridelanders fought with a renewed vigor. Dey were winning. But de leader of de Seconds had a plan. Dey hated de fact dat deir enemies had someting to push dem on, to help dem. So they gave deir own side some help. Dey made a deal. Dey sold the most precious thing dey had...**demselves.** Dey sold demsleves and in return gained powers beyond deir wildest imaginations. And dey returned. Ready to win. But de Kings forsaw dis and used de star dey had sent. One of de kings, de same who had come to give de Pridelander's a promise. Decided to stay forever to stay on Earth, _never_ to return to the heavens. He stayed and helped the Pridelands win the war." Rafiki gazed at the wooden star pendent on the necklace he was holding and chuckled softly.

"De battle was won. De war over. But de Seconds were cowards. Some escaped. Never found. Never heard of again. Until today."

**So how was it? I left it off on a rather tense note don't you think? And I honestly don't know where I'm going with this because I'm making it up as I go! So we shall see where the Seconds Revolution leads us! I shall try not to take to long to update again. So PLEASE REVIEW! I NEED to know how I'm doing!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, this chapter took forever to write. I think I wrote Humiri's version of the war...4 times? And I STILL don't like it! I tried not to cram too much into one chapter, and I promise, the next chapter will move the story along...because frankly, I think it's moving too slow. So please, give me feedback.**

**ENJOY!**

**NALA'S POV**

I couldn't believe it. Our kidnapper was the leader of a ring of powerful and delusional second born lions. Tal had finished telling the story of The Seconds Revolution and was now staring silently at the floor. My heart had stopped, and was beating faster. We were going to die. I was sure of it. According to Tal, the Seconds didn't hesitate to kill others. Not even if they were family. The thought of brother killing sister...it sent chills down my spine. The bad kind.

Sometimes I wish Tal didn't know so much.

To make matters worse, I didn't have a clue why they took us! WHY were we here? What kind of value did we have to them? They didn't know if we were first or second born!

Or did they?

They _knew_ that Kiki wouldn't be able to resist standing up against them. They _knew_ her weak spots. They _knew_ where Miko and Tal were going. They _knew_ that we would follow. They seemed to know EVERYTHING. Our enemy **knew** everything. I felt my skin crawl. There was a spy in our Pride. Someone was giving them information from the inside. One lion was in leauge with the most HORRID group of all Prideland HISTORY!

"What do we do now?" Tal asked softly, voice wavering. I looked up, startled and realized that they were both looking at me expectantly. Like if I had all of the answers.

"What?" I breathed, looking from Tal to Kiki and back again.

"Nala...you were always the best at thinking on your feet, at making plans. Your one of the most focused, determined, strong, faithful, intelligent lions I know. Plus, your gonna be Queen." she smiled, and I blushed. "Your OUR Queen. I trust you. Besides, this is good practice! So, what do we do?" Kiki said, looking at me with determinated green eyes. I chuckled and looked around. I looked at the eyes of my friends-no, my sisters. I saw confused, sad, weary eyes. But most of all, I saw hope. I saw trust. They trusted me. Tal, the smart one, who knew almost everything there is to know, was looking at _me_ for the answer. Kiki, the warrior, the strong one, was looking at _me_ for a battle plan.

I smiled. They were right. They were my family. I wasn't going to fail them.

"Now, we wait."

**SIMBA'S POV**

I looked at Rafiki in disbelief. The Seconds Revolution? The Seconds had Nala? And they had powers beyond imagination?

Oh boy.

Suddenly, the voices stopped. The chanting and wails were cut off abruptly and the world went dark. Just for a second. Then, I realized my eyes were closed. I opened them slowly and saw Rafiki at the edge of his tree, sitting with his legs crossed, eyes closed and head leaning into the breeze. It was no longer night, it was day. Like it was before the voices started. I blinked and looked around, confused.

What just happened?

"Go now. Go and save dem." I quickly turned my head to Rafiki, where his eyes were now open and as cheery as they usually were. Not sad and hurt like they were just moments before.

"But...I thought tha...wha?" Kuju stuttered, just as confused as I was. Rafiki answered with a loud, obnoxious laugh and leapt from his perch at the edge of the tree and in front of Kuju in one great bound.

"You do not tink! Dat is de problem!" Kuju leaned back to avoid being nose to nose with the mandrill and fell over backwards with a yell. We all laughed in spite of the story we just heard. Rafiki smiled at us.

"Just go now. And get back what you lost." Rafiki finished. motioning towards the horizon, where the Outlands were faintly visible. Miko sobered up and jumped out of the tree. Jessikia and Kuju following, Kuju muttering "stupid monkey" to himself. I looked at Rafiki and tried to keep the uncertainty from my voice.

"If they have powers...if they can do things we can't...how do we win?" despite my best efforts, my voice wavered. It was my biggest fear...failing. To go and try, and fight, and do all that I could do...and fail. To lose Nala because I wasn't strong enough, fast enough, smart enough. To lose her because I wasn't...enough.

"Calm your heart. Clear your head. It doesn't do you any good to worry about silly questions." Rafiki chuckled patting my shoulder. I managed a weak smile. "Besides. You have someting dey don't!" He whispered excitedly in my ear. I looked at him questioningly. He chuckled again and placed a worn, wrinkled hand on my chest.

"Heart. Love. You have a heart. You can love. Dey cannot. Keep dat in mind." He smiled a mysterious smile and shooed me out of his tree, calling me a crazy lion. I kept repeating those words in my head. Love. Heart. I can love. I have a heart.

What did those things have to do with fighting? With a rescue mission? I looked up at Rafiki, who had a mischieveous glint in his eye. What was he up to now?

"Crazy monkey." I muttered under my breath, joining my friends, who were all sitting under a tree a little ways off. As I neared them, I saw all of them silent, with serious expressions. I knew they were masking their pain. For all we knew, we had just lost the most important lions in our lives. All of us. It left a deep, burning hole in my heart, in my being. Not having her by my side, waiting for me at Priderock, hearing her voice, seeing her smile, feeling her warm embrace. God, it was only last night, and I'm already going crazy. But just knowing that Nala was somewhere, in the paws of one of the most notorious lions in all history. Not knowing if she was ok, what they were doing to her...Oh Kings! They could be torturing her as I stood here! We needed to move. NOW.

"Where do we go first?" Jessikia asked, immediatly hopping on her feet.

"The Outlands." I answered, already moving in it's direction. "That's where the Outlanders live...hence their name."

"Oh." She answered simply, jogging to keep up. Miko and Kuju followed silently. I could have sworn I felt something poke lightly at my chest several times, but it went away. I shook it off as just insanity. Heck, I imagined I heard voices and that it was night back at Rafiki's tree! Then again, the rest of us seemed confused too. So...did that mean that I didn't imagine it? That we really were transported somewhere? Or that Rafiki somehow turned day into night?

I shook my head.

I was thinking too hard. Rafiki said to not waste time asking silly questions, so I dropped the subject. Instead, I focused my mind on the journey ahead. On getting to the Outlands.

On saving Nala.

**HUMIRI'S POV**

I walked through the narrow tunnels of the termite mound, ignoring the feather light touch of termites as they landed on my body, flicking some off with my tail, letting others lounge on my fur. It was normal for me to feel the insects crawling everywhere. At first, it was a bit unnerving. I almost turned around and returned to Priderock, guaranteed death or not! But I decided that it was a small price to pay for my life. For the rebuilding of my cause.

The Seconds.

Lions who were always in the shadows of their siblings, who always got second best. Just becuse they were born second. I scowled as I remembered my younger days, days when me and Taka would play all day. When Zira was his friend, not a insane lover. When there wasn't any war, any cause, any blood coating the ground.

Before Taka wanted Sarafina.

That one thing started a whole chain reaction. Zira driving Sarafina away from Taka, me and my sister battling for his affections, Ahadi forbbiding Zira from being near Taka...and that made things worse.

He didn't even give me the time of day and I became desprate. So desprate, so needy for his attention, for his affection, for his _love_! That, that I began to devise a plan. I began to think. To see my way to his heart.

Appeal to his jealousy.

He had always been the least bit jealous of his brother. Why not use that to pull him towards me. He had muttered the idea of a revolution anyways...and Zira had never really given me a reason to love her...so it kinda worked with me. I started to spread the word, to feed on that little spite that was planted in every siblings hearts and nurish it. Use it. And it worked. Taka had supported me, joined the cause, believed in it. I even think he loved me. At first it was simply a way to get Taka's love, but soon I believed in the cause as well. I believed in it with a vengence. My own words overtook me and the hatred for my own sister burned hotter and hotter every day. Finally, the war reached its peak. And suddenly, the enemy fought with a vigor that they never had before! Leaping higher, running faster, hitting harder! And with every move, I could have sworn that their eyes shimmered a unearthly, pale, translucent, blue.

They had help.

It made my blood boil just thinking about it! But, I didn't run, I didn't hide, I didn't surrender. Oh no! I went to the graveyard, I went to the darkest, hottest, most foul smelling corner of it. Where I heard that an evil spirit lurked...and I was right. I never saw it, I'm not sure I wanted to really, but I heard it. It's voice sound like blood trickling and screams echoing and claws grating against stone all at once. It sent shudders down my spine. I never laid eyes on its true form but I smelled it. It smelled like decaying bodies, drying blood, sweat, tears, and feces, all mixed together. It terrified me. But I dealt with it. I offered the monster my life, the lives of my followers for all of eternity...in payment of abilities. And he granted me my wish. With a blood curling laugh that appeared in my nightmares regularly.

And we began to win. But that infernal blue shimmer became stronger, and my followers began to die. I heard their screams as the life not only left their eyes, but as they began to be dragged into the service of the evil spirit. It sitll haunts me. Ultimatly we lost...because of Zira. She explained what I had done to the enemy and they made up for it. As soon as failure became evident, I fled to the Outlands, where I knew that eventually, I would get my revenge. I would recieve my prize.

And now I had the chance. The king was no longer Ahadi, nor Mufasa, it was Mufasa's son...Simba. And I would be sure to make him suffer for his ancestors.

**NALA'S POV**

We waited. And waited. And waited. The shafts of light got brighter, then dimmed a bit. It was afternoon. We paced, we sat, we counted bugs crawling on the walls, we tried to spot a way out. But nothing happened for a long. Long. Long time. I began to think that they left us here to die, to starve to death! Or to mabye go insane. But suddenly, I heard some growls and low voices. We all perked our ears towards the sounds and didn't dare to breathe.

"Get them out here." a voice growled. "Now."

I tensed up, waiting for a wall to magically open up. But that didn't happen. Instead, we were flooded with light from above. Scaring me beyond belief. Dirt and loose bits of rock rained down on us from above. We all closed our eyes and tried to not breathe in the clouds of dust.

"Come on, drop the vine!" A guff voice hissed from above. We all squinted against the bright light and Tal squeaked as a thick vine dropped on her head. She scrambled out of the way, looking fearfully at the vine. As if it was going to lash out and choke her.

"Come on! Grab onto it with your teeth! All of you!" the voice called down, sounding annoyed. Kiki looked at me with questioning eyes and I nodded, the said all of us, so if they were going to try and hurt us, we could all fight. It beat sitting down here with nothing to eat or drink. So, we all latched on. Almost immediatly, the vine began to rise, and the ground began to get farther and farther away. I felt a knot form in my stomach, this was how high they dropped us from?

Finally, the circle of light came closer and closer. I could finally make out an edge! I frantically grabbed onto it and hauled myself up, Kiki and Tal following suit. We were met with 4 scowling Outlanders. Or mabye they were Seconds...or both. Either way, I was hesitant and scared of them, after all, didn't they have special powers? But all that they did, was jerk their head towards the tunnel behind them and 2 of them began leading the way. We followed, looking all around us, trying to memorize the route. we went through so many twists and turns that I comepletly lost track. I huffed in frustration, pretending to be annoyed at the long walk while panic was growing in my heart.

Finally, the tunnel opened up into a large cavern, a large hole near the ceiling, the sun virtually in the center. It kinda blinded you. I squinted and blinked in the golden light. A slight laugh echoed in the empty chambers.

"Can't handle the splendor of the Outlands princess?" a grating voice asked. My eyes finally adjusted and at the far end of the cavern...there laid Zira. She was leisurly spread out on a jutting mound and glaring at me as if I was a piece of prey she was hunting. I glared back just as hard.

"I wouldn't exactly call it...splendor." I answered, flicking a termite out of the air right in front of my face. It buzzed pitifully until it landed a small distance away from her.

"I take what I can get," She chuckled standing and walking slowly in our direction. She stared at Tal who was doing a pretty good job of acting brave. I tensed, waiting for Zira to make one wrong move. And ready to kill her.

"And with your help...little shaman. That will be the Pridelands." She gripped Tal's bottom jaw and managed to make it seem like every word was coated in acid. I growled.

"What do you need us for Zira? We don't own the Pridelands! No one does. We simply have earned the right to live there, to tend to the circle of life!  
>A-"<p>

"Don't you start lecturing on that infernal Circle of Life! That same circle led everything I had to live for to the **grave**! I no longer believe in it!" she exploded, getting so close to my face that she almost knocked me over. I didn't move a muscle. Even if I was shaking inside. The storm was over almost as fast as it came and she gripped Tal's jaw again.

"Now, Tal. Little, quiet, shy, shaman Tal. Here's whats going to happen. You are going to make me a genorous amount of that precious dream-link, and in return, I will not kill your friends."

**So yeah, now we know why all of the girls are there. Or do we? Hmm...**  
><strong>Yeah, I know this chapter sucks but I have had to study for midterms (which are all next week) so my creativity has kinda been stalled...<strong>  
><strong>Please review! (NO MATTER HOW SUCKISH IT IS!)<strong>


	10. Chapter 10

**Geez! I need to stop taking so long to update! Sorry (for like the 1000 time XD) but midterms are over so I should be able to update more often. This chapter is particularly long. I tried to squeeze in some SimbaxNala fluff, I think I succeeded! :D**

**Jonny2b:**  
><strong>I do <span>NOT<span> appreciate your recent comments and messages. I believe they were greatly unnessecary! If you believe that bribing someone with a review that you will not reveal in exchange for unblocking you (which I believe I have been EXTEREMELY leniant with) will work, It DOES NOT. I believe that you have to earn a review and recently, you have not. If you wish to cease reviewing I have no problems with that. Now stop. I have warned you several times and have asked nicely. Apparently, that doesn't work. Mabye this will.**

**Seriously. Stop.**

**RAFIKI'S POV**

I sighed a long sigh of relief. The time jump had gone well. It took a lot of energy to do, but I managed to do it. I didn't transport them in time of course, but still. Using my memories of one of the many nights of fighting and projecting them into the minds of 4 big cats at once? Hah! I deserve a reward! I subconciously rubbed my neck, where I expected the familiar worn out cord of the keeper necklace to be. Instead, I only felt tangled bits of my beard.

I sighed again.

I had slipped it around Simba's neck in between the time it took for their minds to catch up to mine when I withdrew my memory. I had to tie some other cords to make it long enough to fit around him, but I managed. He shouldn't be able to know it was there until he really needed it. Or until Yutico wanted to speak with him. Oh what I wouldn't give to see Simba's face if and when Yutico popped out of that humble wooden star! That would be priceless! I laughed to myself for a good while before I felt the fatigue of earlier return and I gave another sigh.

I believe I would be sighing very often for a while.

With a final small prayer for Simba's safety, I settled into a couple of branches that I used as my bed and slipped into a fitful sleep.

**TAL'S POV**

I couldn't believe the words that Zira had just spoken. The dream-link? I was supposed to make the dream link? I had only seen it once! Rafiki had barely spoken about it! How did she expect me to make it?

I winced as the grip on my jaw tightened and my mouth began to ache.

"Are we clear, Tal! Or shall I...elaborate for you?" she growled. My eyes widened a split second before I head Nala and Kiki whimper in pain. My eyes darted towards my friends when I saw the one single piece of 'motivation' that I needed.

A crimson line, dripping little beads down their sides, like a river branching out into small streams. Their eyes, dying to clench tight but defiant. But I could see the fear. I could see it swimming beneath the sapphire and minty green surfaces. I looked hesitantly at Zira. Her expectant expression, yet smug smile. Like she knew I would cave and accept. I squared my shoulders and wrenched my head from her grasp.

"When do I start?"

**NALA'S POV**

I resisted to urge to let my jaw drop to the ground. She accepted? Why? I tried to move but the line of open flesh on my back flamed and I stayed put.

"You can't!" I almost screamed. I didn't know what the dream-link was or why Zira wanted it, but if she did, it wasn't for a good reason.

"I can. And have." Tal finished. Her voice didn't even crack. I didn't recognize her.

"See? That wasn't so hard wasn't it? Now, you can start immeditaly. They will lead you to your...lab." Zira cheerily said, looking a scary kind of happy. The false kind. Two lionesses came up from behind me and two more appeared from the shadows to take their place. They were like rabbits! They just kept coming! Tal shot us a surrendering smile before dissapearing into the dark tunnel. As soon as we couldn't see her or her guards, Zira snapped her head towards me.

"Yes?" Kiki growled, pissed.

"I have no more use for you. Not for the time being." came the dark growl. My heart dropped in my chest.

Crap.

We were shoved forward into a dark tunnel. How many dark tunnels were there in this place? I grimaced as the flaming feeling returned when I walked. It seemed to throb with every step. Little drops of a blackish liquid dropped onto my paws and the floor, making almost silent 'drip' sounds. My heart started to pound. What was going to happen? What were they going to do with us? Is this where they killed us? I growled under my breath. I hated not knowing what was going to happen! I was Nala, one of the lions who returned the Pridelands to its former state and restored the proper bloodline! I was the future Queen for crying out loud! I deserved to know what was happening!

I was abolutely SICK of not knowing what was going to happen. And I snapped.

I growled louder this time and stopped walking. This earned me a push from behind and a surprised glance from Kiki.

"Move it along!"

"Not until I know where I'm going!" I growled, whipping around to face my captors. They were skinny, bones showed through their matted and thinning fur. There were circles around their eyes and they looked genuinly stunned at my outburst. I could easily over power them. Unless they were those who had powers. They still looked stunned and I began to say an insult but they recovered and sneered.

"You'll find out soon enough...Princess." they pushed me again, claws extended, right on my open skin. I growled at them but kept moving, afraid that another painful shove would follow.  
>Kiki looked at me, looking me over, as if assessing my mental and physical level. I smiled and looked forward, a tear forming in the corner of my eye. I was straining my eyes to find any light at all, any signs to ease my fear, but there was nothing.<p>

Suddenly, the ground dissapeared.

I fell, my body weightless. Darkness rushing past, wind ruffling through my fur. My heart was pounding, my head whirling, my mind screaming.

The feeling lasted about 2 seconds.

The wind was suddenly knocked out of me. The ground smacked my body and a shock traveled through my bones, accompanied with a seemingly deafening CRACK!  
>I let out a yell of pain as all of my body seemed like it was on fire. I heard far off laughter and I knew...<p>

They had led us back to the cell. I tried to breathe but all that reached my lungs was dirt mixed with a small stream of air. I coughed violently, feeling a bit of warm liquid trickle out of my mouth as I tried to stand. it lay, dark red, almost black in the darkness, splattered on the floor. I collapsed onto the ground again, the shock once again bringing a shaky yell. The flames intensified all throughout my limbs. I whimpered and cried silently as the unbearable pain flared everywhere.

I managed to speak a single name as the need for them ripped through my heart and soul unlike anything I had felt before.

"Simba..."

The world went black.

**TAL'S POV**

The walk to my 'lab' was relatively short compared to the one that led us to the massive chamber. It was spent in silence, besides the frantic beating of my heart. I was scared. I was terrified. How was I supposed to save my friends lives?

By making a dangerous concoction that I didn't know how to make?

By helping the enemy?

By endagering the minds and sanity of whichever poor soul that would use it?

The answer? All of the above. I was absolutley shaking inside. But I wouldn't let them know that. Why would I? It would just give them something to control me by! So I stayed quiet and calm, the only thing that betrayed my fear was the occasional nervous flicker of my eyes. Finally, we reaced a small cave, with larger holes letting in more light. There were bundles of plants and groups of bowls scattered on the floor. In the middle of the room, there was a dusty turtle shell. There wasn't any water anywhere. I sighed heavily. I was expected to work with this?

Perfect.

"Get to work. Zira wants the dream...thingy as soon as possible." one of the guards said. She didn't growl, or scowl, or look at me like I was a piece of dung in the way. She was different.  
>I raised an eyebrow.<p>

"I will need help."

"Help?"

"Yes like an assistant. One person can't mix and get more ingredients at the same time." I walked slowly around the cave, taking inventory of all of the ingredients. Trying to get an idea of where to start.

"Fine we'll find something. Just...get started." the different lioness left and the door way was unguarded. My heart soared with hope but it was crushed almost immediatly. They wouldn't leave me unguarded. Would they? It wasn't a smart move and they had shown that they weren't stupid. At least not for the most part. I approached the entrance cautiously and poked my head out. I looked to my left, clear. I looked to my right...

Zira! She was talking to a young greyish male, so I didn't think she saw me.

I dashed back inside and pretended to be looking at some plants. My heart was threatening to pound out of my chest.

"Tal I presume?" the voice wasn't Zira's. It was a bit higher pitched. My heart, which was racing just moments before, froze. I slowly looked up, I ever so slowly met the ruby eyes...of Humiri.

"Oh my kings." I breathed, hardly making a sound. Humiri frowned, like if she was expecting a bigger reaction. I would be happy to give her one, but fear currently had me paralyzed. She stepped further into the cave and I instinctivly took one small step back. She smiled.

"So your the one who's making the dream-link!" her eyes gleamed with interest.

I nodded.

"I was expecting someone...different." she circled me. I was suddenly very aware of my smaller stature and thinner limbs. I was never the tallest, never the longest, never the strongest.  
>Never the best. Kiki, or more often, Nala always was. I never really paid attention to it, but now, all of those things seemed ridiculously important. Especially when I might have to defend myself.<p>

"Who were you expecting?" I asked, surprised by my boldness and unwavering voice.

"Someone...better."

I gritted my teeth. She was getting mean, and unnessesary.

"Well, I'm what you get. So, can you please leave so I can get started on the dream-link?" I sat down, waiting for her to either leave or kill me on the spot. Instead, she laughed.

"Of course, but I heard you needed an assistant, so I brought you one. Nuka!" she yelled. A pair of similar red eyes peeked out from the edge of the entrance, darting around nervously.  
>The eyes slowly came forward, revealing a thin frame of greyish fur with a scraggaly mane. His whiskers were crooked. Yup, that was Nuka. Zira's son with the stunted growth. He looked like he was a teenager but was really around my age, a young adult. He slowly approached me. I managed a small smile and motioned for Humiri to leave. She glared at me but left.<p>

"Alright, so just...stay here while I get started." I started to grab different plants and scowled at the half-dead state of most of them. Trying to remember all of the lessons that I could, I collected some more ingredients and placed them by my side, staring at the dirt covered turtle shell in front of me. After a while of silence and uncertainty, I grabbed some thornbrush started to clean out the shell. Humming to myself a song that my mother taught me. It calmed me down and took me away from the death trap that I was in. The song took me away from this place, where I was currently expected to create something to save my friends lives. It took me to the Priderock of my cub days, warm and sunny. Apparently, it took me too far away because I was snapped out of my daydream by yelling.

"LOOK LADY, I'M SUPPOSED TO HELP AND YOU HAVEN'T BEEN ANSWERING! LET ME HELP!" Nuka exploded, breathing heavily, eyes gleaming with something close to insanity. I jumped at the outburst, heart speeding from the scare, and looked at him in confusion. Nuka suddenly whimpered and retreated towards the far end of the room, covering his head with his paws.

"Please don't hit me!" He whispered. My eyes widened and I took a step forward. He inched towards the wall.

"I wasn't going to hit you. You just startled me. Why would I hit you?" I spoke softly, slowly, trying to understand why he was afraid of me.

"Why wouldn't you?" he squeaked, peeking out from behind his paws.

"Why?" I chuckled "Because you did nothing wrong. Do you usually get hit for no reason?" I stepped closer. I was now a mere tails length away. He stopped cowering.

"I didn't? But I yelled!"

"So? You got impatient. I understand. I feel like yelling right now. I want to go home and see my friends safe." I silently added that I also wanted to collapse in Miko's arms, and for him to tell me that everything was going to be okay. Of course, none of that would happen anytime soon.

"You do?" He asked, perking his head up. I nodded.

"So, I do need help. Why don't you get me some of those bowls over there and then we'll see what to we'll do from there." I smiled and went back to cleaning the shell. At first, I heard no movement, but soon enough, I heard footsteps and bowls being pushed gently across the floor. I smiled to myself. Nuka was in reality, a child trapped in an adults age and a teenager's body. You just needed to deal with him like you would deal with a cub.

With patience and compassion.

I frowned though. Why would he think that I would hit him? He must get hit regularly. I growled mentally. Zira. Abusing her own son! What kind of monster was she? I scrubbed harder. I saw Nuka circle around to the other side and stare at me. I tried to ignore it but finally I looked up and put the thornbrush aside.

"What?"

"You're not like they said you would be." he looked at the things at my side. That certainly spiked my interest. I raised an eyebrow.

"What did they say I would be like?" I had a sudden memory of having sage being tied to dreams so I scattered some leaves in the shell.

"Well, they said you. ALL of you guys, were mean. They said you hated us and that you wouldn't listen to reason. Mother said you were evil." he hissed the last word and eyed me suspiciosuly. I scoffed. So now me, Nala, and Kiki were the evil ones?

"What do you think?" I grabbed some passion fruit juice and poured it into the shell. Passion fruit was known for its reconstructive abilities. Possibly good for building things in animal's mind. "Please, stir this with the stick." I handed him a thick stick before he could answer and went back to searching for ingredients. He grabbed the stick and stirred slowly.

"Well I haven't met Nala and Kiki. At least not face to face. I remember them from Priderock. But you...you're nice." he looked at me with uncertainty. I smiled and grabbed a plant in my mouth, dropping it into a small bowl for crushing.

"Thank you. And so are you."

**SIMBA'S POV**

The trek started out easily enough. We walked on well used paths, traveling in silence. We barely encountered any other animals, and when we did, they simply nodded and kept going.  
>I barely remember most of that monotonous trip. What I do remember, is the thoughts that consumed my mind.<p>

Was Nala okay?

What did they want with her?

Did they take her because they wanted to lure me in and kill me?

Why did they take Kiki and Tal as well?

Were they planning on killing us all?

Gory scenes and grim possibilities clouded my mind and I shook them off angrily. Everything was going to be fine. Why? Because I loved her. Because I wouldn't give up no matter what happened. If she was held captive by freaky lions who possesed other worldly powers, then I would beat the living daylights out of all of them to bring her home with me, safe and sound. I would win. We would be safe.

I settled on one and one thing only. Make it to the Outlands.

We skipped lunch and kept walking. Miko and Kuju were in the same silence as I was. Kuju with an incredibly mad expression and Miko with a worried look., speaking volumes of what they thought of their counterparts and the situation in general.

Kuju was probably confident that Kiki could defend herself and wouldn't get hurt or injured. He was probably also pretty confident that we would win this whole thing and that it would be just another adventure.

Miko was most likely scared to death about what Tal was being put through, her being the smallest of the bunch. He was probably imagining all sorts of tortures and torments that she could be experiencing. He was afraid of our abilities against the enemies. He was afraid we would lose.

I briefly wondered what my expression would look like. It would most likely look like a resolute one. One that just screamed that I had made up my mind. And I had. I would go in, kill every last one of their disgusting cult members for everything they had done, past and present, and come back with Nala, safe and sound.

There wasn't another option.

Not for me.

The sky was lit with the dazzling colors of the sunset, basking us in it's golden glow. I felt a warm tear gather at the corner of my eye. I blinked it away as I remembered the day I proposed to her. Just yesterday, but it seemed so far away. I began to get lost in memories when a tired voice called out.

"Hey! Hey! Can we, can we rest for a bit? And can we please get something to eat? I'm starved!" Jessikia asked, from the rear. She quickly came up to my side.

"Please Simba? I know you guys are all 'strong' and 'tough' and all, but aren't you guys the least bit hungry? Or tired?" she decided that walking next to me wasn't enough and she whirled around and blocked my path. I rolled my eyes.

"No need for the sarcasm Jessikia. And are your sure you can't keep going a little while longer?" I glanced around me. We were almost in the Outlands! Almost! She gave me a look that plainly read 'No I can't and you can't either' as if on cue, my stomach gave a soft rumble. I huffed.

"Fine. We'll stop here, get some dinner, rest a bit and then keep going." I sat down and felt a light tap against my chest. Again? Every once in a while, I felt a light poke or tap on my chest,  
>somewhere in my mane. I tried to discretly shake my mane, to see if something was inside it, but nothing came out. I think Rafiki's stunt back in the tree had some sort of lasting effect.<br>Jessikia gave a relieved sigh and immediatly enlisted Miko's help to hunt. Kuju sat beside me underneath a tree, we stayed silent until Jessikia and Miko came back with a small gazelle.  
>We all ate our fill and laid down, underneath the dark blue sky littered with dots of light called stars. I looked up at them, trying to spot my father, to see if he had any advice, any guidance at all! But they remained silent. Like everynight. I shook my head. What was the point of having all of the kings up there (and consoling young cubs by saying that they would guide you) if they never helped? I laid my head on my paws, filled with doubt and concern, when I felt a spot on my chest getting hot. My head shot up and I looked down, comepletly surprised.<p>

What the heck?

The spot kept getting warmer and warmer however. Hot to the point that it hurt. I frantically swatted at the spot. Certain that I was going insane. Everyone else was certainly looking at me like I was.

"Simba whats going on?" Miko asked, approaching slowly.

I don't know, but its hot! Hot! Its really hot! I finally reached felt a really hot small solid object and yanked it off.

It was a wooden star. The one Rafiki had shown us. But what was it doing here? What was it doing around my neck? It shook as it lay in the dirt, glowing an orangy red. Confused and scared out of our minds, we all darted behind a nearby rock and waited for whatever it was going to do. Suddenly...nothing.

The faint reddish glow that was visible from our hiding spot was over, there wasn't any soft humming from its small shaking. Nothing. We all, one by one, peeked over the side of the boulder, expecting to find the wooden star in the dirt, no different than we first saw it. And we did.

But there was something else right next to it.

And I swear, I had a heart attack there and then.

**So what you think? I know it's long, and hopefully not too confusing. Please review, it means alot to me to see your opinion :)**

**Heed my message Jonny2b.**


	11. Chapter 11

**OMG! Such a looong time since I updated! I ran into some WB and it KILLED me! Hope this is a good chapter! By the way, it's kinda harder 'cause I make it up as I go! Jeez! Who knew that improvising a story could be so difficult? XD**

**ENJOY!**

**NALA'S POV**

"No, no no no no! Nala, Nala! Nala, please wake up, wake up!" the voice was faint, far off and sketchy. It came into focus and faded away again.

"She's not waking up! Don't you have something in that little sack? Smelling powder? Something?" this voice was clearer. It was a bit more controlled than the first.

"What's wrong with her?" this voice was uneven, it squeaked and got lower. Lights and figures began to appear, faint at first, but steadily getting stronger.

"She must have landed in a worse position than you. Give her some water Nuka. Not too much, just trickle it down her throat." I could make out fuzzy images. Wait, Nuka? I opened my eyes comepletly and tried to talk. Instead of sound, I choked on dried and caked blood. It flaked off and down my throat. I coughed, bringing a flaring pain in my chest. I couldn't breathe!

"Um, she's awake! Tal!" Nuka shrieked, splashing some drops of water on my face. It felt cool. I coughed some more. My throat burned! My chest ached!

"Give her some water then!" Tal said, noticably frustrated. Her fuzzy dark tan figure appeared above me. Instantly, cool, fresh, deliciously wet water slid down my parched throat. I swallowed gratefully, enjoying the refreshing drink. The water suddenly stopped.

"Breathe Nala, breathe...calmly breathe. Better?" I follwed the instructions dutifully and breathed, trying to expand my seemingly withered lungs. Air slowly trickled in before finally filling my lungs. I took one deep breath after another, each expansion of my chest sending a searing pain through my ribs. Painful to breathe? Not good.

"Don't breathe too hard Nala, slower, a bit shallower...there you go." Tal hovered above me, concern in her eyes, paws flying over my body, checking for breaks and covering cuts. Following instructions, I stopped gasping for air. The pain was now a dull sting. I tried to sit up. Big mistake! My bones creaked and protested, my muscles screamed! Kings, what happened? A gentle paw pushed me down.

"Don't get up yet. I think you're seriously hurt." Tal said gently. I scoffed.

"No duh." it came out as a raspy whisper. She smiled.

"Kiki fell too but, I guess she hit something before hand or she managed to cling to something before hand. You probably just fell like a rock." She kept her voice low, her eyes far away, paws moving expertly to spread clumpy salve of cuts. I winced. Tal turned to Nuka and motioned for him to hold something in place. He immediately obeyed. I glared.

"Oh no, Nuka's cool. He's nice and volunteered to help me." Tal quickly intervened, sensing my unease. I still didn't like him being here. I mean, he was the son of the mastermind behind all of this!

"Yeah, I don't like it either. If it were up to me, Zira would find a nice little surprise for her waiting at the bottom of this Hell hole." Kiki hissed, advancing so close to Nuka that he visibly cowered back, whimpering.

"He's an innocent victim!" Tal defended loudly, stepping up to Kiki, almost nose to nose, "He's just as guilty as we are! You put one paw on him and you would be no better than Zira." Her eyes blazed with a fire she only got when she truly believed in something. Nuka backed even farther away as Kiki's eyes narrowed dangerously. This would turn into a fight real fast.

"Hey!" I shouted, my voice breaking. Everyone turned to me. "We can't start fighting now! If you haven't noticed, we are in the middle of a bit of a situation! We need to stick or no Nuka. Besides. I trust Tal to know what she's doing." despite my voice breaking, they all listened and settled down. Nuka even came a bit closer, but still avoided Kiki at all costs. I wasn't sure if we could actually trust Nuka, but I prayed that we could.

"Now can someone please tell me what happened?" I put a paw to my head, feeling like my pulse was in my brain!

"Oh, well...I was lead to this makeshift lab to create the dream link. It took me about a day."

"A day? I was out for a day?" I shrieked. How could someone be unconcious for a whole day?

"We were unconcious." Kiki corrected, not looking too happy about it. Nodding, Tal agreed.

"Yes about. There shouldn't be any permenant brain trauma except some small memory loss. It's a miracle that only one bone of yours is broken!" She gave a half smile. I gave a horrified expression. My bone? One of my bones is broken? I desprately started searching, frustrated because I couldn't see from my layed down position on my back.

"It's your left leg Nala...it's a small fracture. Should heal in a couple of weeks." she spoke softly, but said it with a positive beat, trying to lift our spirits. It didn't work.

My leg? My leg was broken? But that meant...that meant that I wouldn't be able to walk well. I wouldn't be able to run at all. I would be a nuisance. That was my worst nightmare. To not be able to help, to lead. To have to be helped along. To be a bother. I felt my heart twist. This just kept getting better and better.

Kiki helped me sit up and I winced as I felt a flame spring up...in my left leg. Tal had made a makeshift splint with two thick sticks, holding it it place with some vines. It was numb, but I knew it would flare up soon. Oh joy.

"Um...well, Nuka helped me, he was my assistant. And this lioness, named Janelle, helped me come here. It only took for me to ask once. She's actually quite kind." Nuka seemed to sit up straighter when he heard her mention his name. I just scoffed. An outlander? A possible Second? Kind? It was impossible! Now I knew Tal was too nice for her own good.

"What about the dream-link? What happened to it?" now was not the time to lecture innocent friends on backstabbing traitors.

"Zira is actually using it tonight. In a couple of hours. We are invited as the guests of honor." Kiki answered, placing a paw on her chest in an extremely sarcastic manner. It was kinda amusing, but the worry flooded my mind. I was going to watch as some lioness destroyed my fiance's mental state? How did they expect me to watch it? It was just a game for them, to use us, to play with us. To watch us suffer.

It was a sick, twisted game.

**SIMBA'S POV**

My first reaction was exactly this.

"LEAPING ANTELOPE!"

Lame reaction, I know, but I had good reason!

There was a lion. He had pale fur, a darker, thick mane. His eyes glowed. No, literally, they GLOWED! Like two bluish fireflies. He was tall, a head taller than me, and he looked like he could beat any one to a pulp. The strangest thing? He was see through. Not see-through exactly but you could make out what was behind him easily. It was kinda like looking down into a calm pond.

There was a freaking lion. That was see through! I heard Jessikia let out a small scream. Miko and Kuju were silent, but visibly shaken. The random clear lion looked around.

"Rafiki? Friend? Sorry if I frightened you with the flashy appearence, but it was so long since I did appear like that, I just wanted to do it again!" His voice was only ever so slightly deeper than mine, making it sound like it didn't belong in his frightening body.

"Hello? I heard that girlish shriek! Don't worry old friend, I won't tell anyone." He chuckled. I swallowed and lifted my entire head above the boulder. The foriegn...freaky lion immediatly turned to look at me. Crap. I quickly ducked back down. I could deal with rouge lions and angry hyenas, but a ghost-like fit lion? No thank you!

"Simba...son of Mufasa. Come out." I felt a shudder go through my body. It was a hot shudder. It seemed to temporaliy burn my body. It was gone as soon as it came. How did he know who my father was? How did he know my name? Carefully, I inched my head over the boulder. My heart pounded.

"Who..who are you?" I tried to stand tall and sound authorative, and thought that I did. Until the lion let out a hearty laugh. His transparent chest shook and his firefly eyes were shut tight.

"Who am I? Oh, goodness. My name is Yutico. I was the second king to rule over Pride rock. I am the grandfather to Mohatu." he was smiling. He didn't seem to be very scary anymore,  
>but I was still quivering on the inside. This guy...Yutico...was dead.<p>

HE WAS DEAD! HE WAS A GHOST!

NO lion can ever live that long! It was impossible! My throat suddenly became very dry. I seemed small, oh so tiny.

"Yes, impressive isn't it? But, I'm here. Now, can you please explain to me why you are here and not Rafiki? I would just get the information from you the easy way, but it had been a long while since I have spoken to another lion." he walked closer and I fumbled backwards, landing on my back. Yutico laughed. The easy way? What did that mean? He wasn't going to hurt me was he?

Apparently it meant just read the information. Being dead, excuse me, "moved on" (as he preferred), he could easily just peer into you. Like seeing your thoughts and memories. It was only one of the several abilities he had as being a great King of the past. But, it was very, very disturbing. Yutico explained all of this after a long while of very patient persuasion. We were still not exactly comfortable with Yutico being...well...moved on. He seemed like a nice enough guy though. And he was my family. In an odd, ancient kind of way.

"Well, a very interesting predicament you're all in." he finally said when we finished explaining. Interesting? Really? "And I can see why Rafiki would have given me to you, no matter how many times the council of Kings told him not to." He rolled his eyes.

"Well, you're here. And we're not about to turn back to return you or your star home. Are you going to help or not?" Kuju asked, obviously peeved.

"Calm yourself Kuju." He warned, eyes narrowing "I will help. But you are not the only one desperate to start moving again." his glowing eyes blazed. Kuju shuddered, then Miko, then I did. It was that same hot flash as before. He was reading us. His gaze warmed when he read Jessikia. Her features looked panicked and pleading for a second, but they were relaxed when Yutico nodded. I looked back and forth, between them. What just happened? Jessikia had a secret. And now, Yutico knew.

"Then let's go." I announced sternly, standing up to walk, but Yutico suddenly popped up in front of me. Oh yeah, teleporting? It was another one of his special abilities. I stopped suddenly. "What?"

"We will stay here for the night."

"What? But, we need to keep going!" Miko replied, hurrying to Yutico's side.

"Yes, we do. But you are all tired. We are right on the border. We will continue on in the morning." he turned to all of us and started for his small star. I blocked his path.

"Woah, woah woah. Who said you made the decisions here? I'm the leader and I say we keep going. We already took a break." this guy (dead guy) decides that he's in charge? Sorry to burst your bubble dude, but no.

"I am your elder, and your ancestor. I am the one most fit for the position. You on the other hand, are blinded and guided by your personal emotions. I think you would do best to watch that tounge of yours, Simba." and just like that, he poofed to his little star and seeped in, like mist into a small crack in stone. I huffed. Yutico was seriously getting on my nerves. And I just met the guy!

"Fine, oh wise old guy. We'll sleep for now. But, when we see the sun, we move." I settled next to the boulder, Miko and Kuju nearby, clearly uncertain. Jesskia jumped up on the branches of the tree overhead. Tired? Please, I wasn't tired. If anything, I was wide awake and we were going to waste time laying here. Stupid Yutico.

Those were my last thoughts before I fell asleep.

**NALA'S POV**

They seemed proud of what they were doing. Actually proud. It sent bunches of acid words to my mouth but I held them back. Why cause anymore trouble than we were already in? We were standing in the large cavern we were in before Tal got whisked away to create the dream-link. The sun's light was no longer streaming into the room, but the moon was clearly visible. Zira and another lioness stood underneath the round window, tall and cocky. A wooden bowl sat at their paws.

"Watch. Watch and witness how debts are paid here." was all that Zira said. The other lioness emerged from the shadows and smiled, sharp teeth glistening. My stomach dropped. She looked like Zira. Exactly like Zira. A twin! This must have been Humiri! The only difference was the brown stripe. Zira had it, Humiri didn't. My heart panicked in my chest, beating furiously fast as she reached into the dark behind her and shoved out a lioness. Her eyes were wide and scared. Her features, twisted into a false air of bravery. What was going on? Was she going to kill her? I thought that we were here to see the dream-link in use? Either way, tonight was not going to be a pretty night.

"Use it. Two licks. That's it. Use it on her." Humiri instructed harshly, gesturing to another immediatly frightened lioness in the crowd off to the side. The poor lioness nodded frantically and bended towards the bowl, visibly shaking. The poor girl. She quickly licked the syrupy concoction, grimacing as she did so and turned to the pointed out lioness. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

We all held ours.

She suddenly shouted, winced. Her eyes shut tighter and her claws dug into the packed dirt underneath. Shudders traveled through her body and she began to convulse, screaming at times, wincing at others. We all took a step back. What was happening? What was going on? Was she okay? It was the dream-link. It was doing this. Her body dropped, limp, to the ground. Eyes wide and blank, a small trickle of blood seeping out of her open mouth.

O Kings.

It killed her. It killed her. The lioness was dead. The crowd parted to reveal that the other lioness was also in the same state. Dead. Both dead. My stomach roiled. I felt bile rise to my throat. Tal gasped and choked out a "no". Kiki stayed silent but let out a solitary tear. Zira and Humiri merely scowled at the body and kicked it off of their platform. It landed on the lower ground with a sickening thump. Another hysterical lioness raced up to the now dead body, sobs wracking her body. Others quietly led them away. It was all so sick. So wrong.

"This is what happens when the user and what we call the 'affected' do not share an emotional bond. Two sisters used it on each other without any harm befalling anyone. Have two strangers use it, and that happens." Humriri growled, eyes blazing. This was insane. They just killed two innocent lionesses to show a point! They were monsters. Then I realized what Humiri was getting to. My stomach lurched.

Oh no. Please no.

They couldn't do what I thought they would do. They couldn't!

"Circumstances as they are, we need to change some plans. Instead of us inflicting the harm..."

My heart dropped. No, no no! They would NOT make me do this!

"You will."

**KUJU'S POV**

Sleep came easily. But it didn't come nicely. At first, it was good. The dream I had was all me and Kiki. No Seconds, no Outlanders. Just us.

_"Oh come on, don't tell me you're afraid!" I taunted, on the other side of the river. Kiki glared daggers at me, turning her attention to the dangling vine in front of her._

_"I'm not afraid! I'm just pausing for dramatic effect!" she shouted back, tossing her head defiantly. Green eyes determined. I felt a warmth grow in my chest. This was one of my favorite memories. It was only about a week ago when I told her, when I confessed that I loved her._

_"Then swing!" I shouted, laughing. She stared uncertainly at the vine in front of her before grabbing it and swinging. She glided across easily, except for one thing. Her eyes were closed!_

_"Wait! Kiki! Look! Open your-" I shouted, panicked. But it was too late. She crashed into me with a 'thump' and we both went rolling down the rock, landing in the dust. We were both laughing, none of us hurt but both covered in a little dirt. She was resting on top of my chest, paws grabbing onto my neck, tangled in my mane. My arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, my head in her neck. We finally realized the position we were in. I quickly moved my head and laid back comepletely, eyes wide and heat beating so fast I thought it was going to leap right out of my chest! Her eyes were equally wide and I couldn't tell how fast her heart was going, but her cheeks were a bit pink._

_"Oh..um..I'm sorry, I wasn't looking and I-" she began to say after a bit of silence._

_"No, it's okay. Really." I couldn't help but smile. She smiled too, and then did something I wasn't expecting her to. She got comfortable! Her paws moved to my shoulders and she adjusted her legs to fit in between mine. Her head rested in my neck. My eyes got even wider (if possible) and my heart beat faster. Was this really happening?_

_"This is okay right?" she asked, her voice wavering. I didn't trust myself to speak and merely nodded. Of course it was okay! It was great! She laughed and looked at me. Stuttering, I tried to speak. Kiki just looked at me in a concerned way._

_"Kuju?"_

_"Iloveyou" I blurted out. I shut my mouth quickly. Stupid! That wasn't supposed to come out of my mouth! But of course, this already happened and I knew what happened next._

_But her eyes flashed with a sadness. Almost saying "I'm sorry."_

_Then she began to laugh._

_"You? And me? YOU WISH! Oh, this was just for fun!" She laughed. And laughed._

_No. This was wrong. NO! She couldn't have been leading me on for fun! No! We were supposed to be in love!_

NO!

The night's chill hit me like a boulder when I woke up. A nightmare. A terrible nightmare. But her eyes. It was like she knew what was going to happen. She did it anyway. She laughed.  
>My worst fear. Her rejecting me. Me losing her. Why would that come up now? I didn't know. But I never wanted that nightmare to happen again.<p>

One thing was sure. Miko and Simba were sleeping nicely. Well, Simba was. Miko began to twitch and frown. What was going on?

**Sooo? How was it? Hope it was good! Oh, and some of my friends read the dying lioness part they were surprised. Apparently, I'm not exactly a very dark person so when they saw it...they kinda freaked XD **

**It was funny to see their reactions! Hope you review!**


	12. Chapter 12

**HI! I am not dead, nor did I leave fanfiction. I simply got stuck in a major rut and could not get out. I also got caught up in buttloads of schoolwork. So, here is a new chapter, admittedly, it's VERY confusing. If you understand it, KUDOS to you! :) If not, feel free to send me a PM and I'll try my best to explain it to you. Without further rambling...**

**ENJOY!**

**KIKI'S POV**

"Do it."

"NO!" I countered, a bit childishly I admit. Humiri was a foot away from my face.

"Ugh. Haven't we been over this already? Listen up Pridelanders! This goes for all of you! You do what we say, or the others die. Or we torture them, I don't have a prefrence. Got it?"  
>she seemed annoyed that we didn't understand her. But I understood. I just thought it was insane.<p>

"Don't li-" it was Nala. She tried to tell me to not listen to Humiri (which she didn't have to say) but a paw closed around her throat. She panicked and clawed desprateley at the paw. It was a random lioness, her eyes glowing red. GLOWING! And Nala's frightened struggles did nothing to loosen the lioness's grip. Nala was losing air, fast! The demon-like lioness grinned.

"Fine!" I shouted, trying to save my friend from her creepy attacker "I'll do it!" the words rang inside the cavern. I felt sick inside. Betray my love, invade his privacy and create a nightmare that would slowly wear down his will...or let my friends die. What choice was that?

None. No choice.

So I used it.

**_It was like falling. My stomach flipped inside out and I tried to let out a scream. I was DONE with the falling! Suddenly, it was dark. I was standing up, faint colors and lights up ahead._**  
><strong><em>I steeled my nerves...and walked forward.<em>**

**_I felt like a theif, when I went in. It felt like exploring a cave. It was still dark, with floating objects glowing softly. Sometimes the floating orbs melded and shifted together. Images appearing and dissapearing. Focusing and blurring. So strange...a voice echoed in my ears. It was Kuju! Oh the voice was like music to my ears! I ran towards it, the colored spheres rushing past me when the voice faded. I stopped. It was just his thoughts. I couldn't understand them very well. They were muddled, faint. But one word kept popping up._**

**_Kiki._**

**_My name was clear every time he spoke it. He was thinking about me...he was worried! For some reason it made me feel so much better. It warmed me inside. Although that feeling seemed far away, almost like an echo of my own feelings. Then I remembered my mission. The nightmare...right. Where would his dreams be? Would they be the floating images? I ran back and looked at them, coming closer to the orbs, peering into them. A soft voice spoke._**

**_Memories_**

**_So they were memories? Well, that wasn't what I was looking for. I kept searching. A detached feeling of dread spread through my limbs as I walked down the gallery of memories, the eerie hushed thoughts of my love serving as a background. The spheres suddenly became only one, bigger sphere. The images brighter, even stranger. Some fragments of memories, others like warped realities. I once again came closer to them and the soft voice once again spoke._**

**_Dreams_**

**_Ah...here they were. But how did I change them? Mabye if I stepped inside...I took one step forward._**

_I was on a boulder. A vine was swinging in the breeze in front of me. Kuju waited on the other side, laughing and smiling. Kuju? Kuju! I wanted to run to him, to tackle him down and hold him. To never let him go. To forget the horrors that I had seen and just be. Just be with him. But that wouldn't happen. I couldn't do it. My body wouldn't react. He was still in control._

_"I'm not afraid! I'm just pausing for dramatic effect!" I said, tossing my head in a defiant way. The memory...it was the day he told me he loved me. I thought I felt tears stream down my cheeks, but they felt light...like a breeze on my cheek. I would have to twist this. But...couldn't I just enjoy the memory, live the dream? Could I do it?_

_"Then swing!" he shouted, laughing that laugh that lifted my spirits higher than the birds could fly. I grabbed the vine and swung across. My eyes shut tight, a million thoughts whizzing through my head. I would do it! I wouldn't hurt him. I wouldn't betray him like that. I couldn't! I felt the familiar crash of bodies and the rough rock turn to packed dirt as we both rolled down the slope._

_"You will twist it." a harsh voice hissed. It felt so loud! So grating! "You will twist it or they will die."_

_A far off choke. My head throbbed. Sharp points dug into my seemingly ghost throat. She was choking me. "Alright!" I cried pitifully in my head. I vaugely heard it come out as a croak._

_My dream self was currently staring wide eyed at an embaressed Kuju. I babbled an apology. He declined it. I positioned myself into a more comfortable position, his nearness and scent making me feel dizzy. I asked if it was alright. He nodded frantically. How would I twist this? I listened carefully and tried to decipher the muffled thoughts streaming through the air like the breeze. It seemed to speak fears and insecurities or questions._

_Lose Kiki? Have her dump me? Not care for me? Kings, that would kill me_

_It was his thoughts. It was right after his dream self blurted out that he loved me. For a split second, a wave of dread and hate swept me. This feeling wasn't numb or far off like the others. It was bright and oh so real. It stabbed and hurt. For that moment, I was in control. I put all of my energy into managing my actions._

_"You? And me? YOU WISH! Oh, this was just for fun!" I laughed. My stomach roiled. Why was I doing this? I had to stop! I couldn't bear seeing his face of horror. His expression of hurt. I had to fix it!_

_I was suddenly falling, hurling through black, suffocating._

I gasped for air. The world spun around me. Dark shapes and colors swirled as the weight of what I had done fell and crushed me. My heart was clawed, twisting. My lungs full and then empty too quickly. My eyes burned. My limbs shook and my head ached. An overwhelming fatigue swept my entire body. I was back in the Outlands, in my own body, in my own mind.

What had I just done?

**NALA'S POV**

Kiki swayed as shudders shook her body. She didn't sob, she didn't make a sound. She just swayed, shook. A few solitary tears streamed down her cheeks. Her eyes were filled with a sadness that I couldn't place. It was deep. I tried to comfort her but she just wiped away the tears and tried to stop the shaking. She looked far off, not focusing on anything in particular.  
>She had whispered something about not doing it. Zira reacted by choking her. I rubbed my own throat, feeling the small circle like bruises in various places. These lions were so violent!<br>So eager to cause pain and hurt! The two sisters nodded at each other, obviously pleased. The monsters.

Who was next? Who would be the next victim?

"Your turn!" Humiri said cheerily. Tal's muzzle was suddenly pushed into the bowl. The thick liquid getting all over her muzzle and sprinkling her eyelashes. She gurgled, desperately trying to surface. I started forward, only to be shoved back by two red-eyed guards. Red eyes. Like demons. It must have meant they were using their powers! Humiri released Tal's head and she fumbled back, gasping for breath and spitting out the dream link. Her muzzle was an odd peach color, swirled with iradecent green. She growled at them and wiped her face with her arm. I joined in on the growling. I was getting sick and tired of always being scared and pushed around!

"Oh stop your annoying protests! Can't you see that you're only making things harder? Now USE it little shaman! Use it so we can get to the snotty princess over here!" Zira growled. I scoffed. Snotty? Really! These lions were seriously getting on my nerves!

"I will! I'm doing it...now." Tal yelled, looking frightened at somehting behind me. I turned, slowly...there were three lionesses, all with glowing red eyes. Poised, and ready to strike.  
>Great.<p>

Tal took a deep breath and closed her eyes, all the while taking deep breaths. Then, just like Kiki had, she straightened up, back completely straight. Her eyelids opened a little, showing white eyes with swirls of glowing green. I shuddered. It was so creepy! She muttered words under her breath, seemed surprised for a second, then flushed a deep red. I wondered what was going on in there...tears started to slowly stream down her cheeks and then, a scream, sudden and peircing. Everyone flinched and grimaced, some covered their ears.

She stopped. It only lasted a second. She opened her eyes, now their regular brown but watery and bloodshot. What happened in there? I made a mental note to ask later.

"Princess!" Humiri shouted.

"Yeah, I know, use it!" I countered, growling under my breath. I approached the bowl. I was scared, to say the least. My two friends seemed to have been put through unmentionable things. What would I find? What would I have to do? Slowly, I lapped up the liquid. Syrupy and bitter. It stuck to my throat as I swallowed. Disgusting.

Now I had to think of Simba. To enter his mind. So I did. I thought of his smile, that made me feel at home. His eyes that I could get lost in forever. His laugh that made every moment shine. Him. I thought of him.

**_Falling._**

**_I was suddenly falling through darkness and I tried to scream. Tried to stop, thinking of my broken leg, falling into our prison hole. But no sound came out. The memories of falling and breaking my leg came faint and sluggish. Suddenly, I stopped falling. It was dark, and busy. It seemed to be a cave, with small openings where there were different scenes playing outside. Some ended and started again, soft sounds coming from them. I approached one, a faint feeling of curiosity seeping into me. A word was etched above each opening._**

**_Memories. I vaugely recognized some. One was of him kissing a lioness...me, I realized. Why was my brain not working right? Everything about me seemed detached, apart._**

**_"The dream Princess!" a voice growled, loud and grating in the relativly quiet cavern that was Simba's mind. "Destroy his dream!"_**

**_I winced and flattened my ears. Yes, I remembered his dream. So I walked, moved through the memories. There were many about the jungle, the battle at Priderock. The stampede. So much pain. His voice wafted through the cave, his thoughts. About a lion named...Yutico? Who was he? And then...me. He was thinking about me. Saving me. He was coming! A soft feeling of joy spread through my limbs._**

**_Dream. His dreams. It appeared in front of me, intterupting my celebration. It was the largest opening I had seen, and it was bright, moving colorful. Flashes of his life played, not making any sense, the order of memories not making any sense. How did I change it? I poked it, and my paw went through, like air. So I stepped in._**

_It was raining. Hard. I could barely see anything. But I did recognize the cracked earth beneath my paws, the towering spires of the termite columns. The Outlands. I suddenly couldn't breathe, my throat was closed, my neck ached. My body was pinned to the ground in an instant. I tried to fight back but all that my body did was squirm._

_"Let go of her!" Simba! Wait, this was his dream. I looked up to see Zira grinning an evil, chilling smile._

_"Or what? I'm not afraid of you." she answered. I tried to breathe and a trickle of air seeped into my lungs. How did I control this?_

_"I'll kill you." He growled. I could only see Zira but she didn't react to his threat. I would think that Simba would make a dream where the enemy feared him. Or at least DO something!_  
><em>I heard a deafening roar and a flash of gold sail overhead. Simba! The pressure on my throat dissapeared and I gulped down big breaths of air, slowly wobbling to my feet. I saw Simba,<em>  
><em>wet and covered in small streams of red, biting, clawing and just flat out trying to kill Zira.<em>

_That's what he was dreaming about? Killing Zira? But then, I noticed a soft stream of voices...his voice! I tried to listen, and realized that he was speaking about being...about not being enough. Not being enough?_

_The ground turned to mud, slick and rushing. I flailed, trying to gain my footing. I screamed, a single word._

_"Simba!"_

_I fell, went over a cliff that suddenly appeared, falling, falling, never stopping. I screamed again, terrified! I was going to die! But...this was a dream. I couldn't die. Right?_

_"Nala!" he screamed, skidding to a halt right at the edge of the cliff. I realized that I stopped falling and was resting against a muddy ground, looking up at the cliff side._

_"Nala..." he screamed. Zira suddenly matierealized behind him._

_"You couldn't save her...you're just not fast enough Simba, not strong enough. You're pathetic. A sorry excuse for a king, soiling your father's name."_

_Stop it! I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream and hurt her so bad! Speaking lies! Telling him terrible lies!_

_"No..." he mouthed._

_"You don't deserve her...don't deserve anybody." it was hissed, barely and inch from his ear. More disgusting lies. I wanted to hurt her so badly!_

_I was falling. Again. The scene in front of me suddenly dissapeared, despite my best attempts to keep it there._

The Outlands, the cavern, all swirling around me. I couldn't get enough air, as if I was submerged underwater the entire time.

I didn't even alter anything. That was his own nightmare.

Oh Kings...

**SIMBA'S POV**

I woke up in a cold sweat.

"Dang it." only, I didn't say dang it. That was one heck of a nightmare! It never happened before! Of course, I have thought of it, heck, it even haunted my thoughts-during the day! This was a new level, and I wasn't enjoying it at all. My eyes slowly adjusted to the night and I realized...I wasn't the only one awake.

"You too?" Miko asked quietly, trying not to disturb Jessikia, who was snoring happily in the branches overhead. Kuju was sitting nearby, looking curious and sad at the same time.  
>I nodded.<p>

"Yeah...you guys had nightmares?"

"Um..yeah." Kuju whispered. Miko (I think) turned a interesting shade of red. Weird...all of us having nightmares at the same time? Well, we were all stressed out so I guess it would be normal. I simply told them to go back to sleep and tried myself. No more nightmares for the rest of the night. Thankfully.

We woke up to a flash of heat popping in our bodies.

"AHH!" Miko shouted, jumping up and falling again. I just bolted up. Yutico was probably behind this. Sure enough, I looked around and Yutico was standing on top of the boulder we hid behind yesterday, looking amused. Jessikia was standing at the base of the tree, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"Was that really neccessary?" Kuju asked.

"Yes. And may I say Simba...your dreams are certainly...interesting?" he chuckled. I raised an eyebrow.

"I honestly don't remember anything" Lie. Well, after the nightmare I didn't.

"Well, it mostly involved you...a young lioness by the name of Nala? Yes, that is the name you were saying. I believe it was your wedding ni-"

"OK!" I yelled, instantly getting the message. I did NOT need that. Kuju and Miko immedietley started to laugh. Jessikia was giggling uncontrollably

"I don't see why you two are laughing. Your dreams weren't much less embarassing. If I remember correctly, Miko was playing with a small version of that Tal while the actual Tal looked on." here Miko turned red and gave his paws his upmost attention.

"And Kuju was running away from a giant piece of fruit that oddly enough had the most horrible fangs!" Yutico smiled and Jessikia started to outright guffaw. I also started to laugh while Kuju sputtered out a protest.

"Shouldn't we be going?" I managed to ask in between laughs. My eyes started to water. With that, everyone sobered up and continued on our way. The lush grass eventually faded away by comeplete, giving way to cracked, dusty ground that had a sinister air to it. The Outlands. We were finally here. Now all we had to do was find them, save them from a bunch of insane lionesses with a major grudge, and return home safely.

No biggie.

**JARI'S POV**

I hated hiding. I absolutely hated it. It made me feel weak and cowardly. Neither of which I was. I paced impatiently in my room, a cave that over looked the grand cavern where Nala was currently done with using the dream-link. I swear, as soon as I got the opportunity, I was going to snap her neck! I had enough of an emotional tie to Simba to use the dream link on him! And believe me, I would make sure to fill his dreams with a crapload of gory images about Nala. It would have been my pleasure! But NO! Zira and Humiri had to be all

"Its better if the emotional tie is shared between the two." MEH! Gosh sometimes I wanted to hurt her sooo bad! She was wrong. Our love was so strong I could have easily used it. But I guess seeing Nala go through the personal agony of inflicting phsycological damage on her "beloved" (disgusting) made up for it. I also enjoyed seeing Nala struggle with her broken leg. What a delicious surprise that was!

Now I watched as the three prisoners were led away from the cavern and back to their prison cell. After they were gone I carefully decended from my hidden viewing spot and approached Humiri.

"So you lied and said that they were out for a whole day?"

"Yes." she looked bored.

"Why?"

"Well, it adds a bit of despair, just shaves down their hope a bit. Makes them question their boys' abilities and devotion to them. It's all around beneficial to us."

"Oh...all right. When do I come in?"

"In a bit. We just have to bruise you up a little." she smiled and chuckled like the insane lioness she was.

"Touch me and I'll snap your neck."

"Fine," she pouted, "But at least let us paint on some scars! We have to make this believable."

**Hope that wasn't too confusing or disappointing! Again, if totally confused without a doubt, PM me and I shall attempt to explain it to you. (To be honest I'm a bit muddled myself XD) Please Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey! I was on vacation for a while and couldn't get on a computer. That and a severe case of WB led to a possible world record for not updating. I'm back though! Hopefully I can write a lot more know, although I'm going to have a lot of summer work (stupid high school) and I'm trying to end this story quickly but not rushed because a have a gazillion more plots floating around my head. Oh well, as usual...**

**ENJOY!**

**TAL'S POV**

It was all my fault.

If I had only remembered the recipe better, or if I had thought harder-mabye those two lionesses would have lived. Mabye the lionesses that were first used to test it would have been breathing right now. It didn't matter that they were the enemy, they could have lived. But they were dead. Dead like that young girl whose eyes rolled back into her head, whose heart was no longer beating, whose loved ones would mourn their loss.

All because of me.

After I came back from the hypnotic trance that involved the most private thoughts and feelings of my beloved...I didn't feel like I was in the Outlands. I could only partially hear Nala go through the terrible ordeal of constructing a morale degrading nightmare for the one she loved. I only kind of registered the rough words and actions that led us to our cell. My mind was still on the deaths that I could have prevented. The poor souls that more likely than not got dragged to that evil spirit that lurked in the graveyard. All of my attention was focused on my mistakes and their dire consequences.

"Nala..." Kiki asked softly, her voice wavering. I looked up when I realized I was staring at the ground. I didn't know how long we were down here...how long we were silent and absorbed in our own worlds. Nala looked up, also awoken from her quiet and no doubt melancholy thoughts. "What did we do?"

Nala looked surprised, but then a look of complete despair overtook her features.

"Something terrible Kiki, something absolutely terrible."

My thoughts exactly. My version of his dream was a gory one, full of blood and helplessness.

I was sitting on a rock, in the warm sun, the water hole glittering below. I was stretched out, enjoying the warmth, one paw laid gently on my stomach. I wondered why and was curious,  
>but the curiosity was so vague that I didn't pay much attention. I suddenly felt a shadow and turned around, squinting at the dark outline.<p>

"How's my wonderful wife doing?" the figure asked playfully, giving me a tender kiss on the cheek. The same vague curiosity came back, only this time with a bit of alarm. Wife? The figure suddenly became clear. It was Miko. I felt a detached feeling of my cheeks flaming.

"Fine, but tired." the words spilled out without me meaning to speak. I wasn't in control yet. "She's taking a lot out of me." I looked down at my stomach as Miko sat down next to me.  
>He laughed and placed a gentle paw on my stomach, right next to mine.<p>

"Hey sweetie, take it easy on your Mom, okay?" he asked my belly, rubbing it softly and smiling warmly when a small bulge moved underneath my skin. My far-off cheeks flamed even more. He chuckled and his eyes met mine again. They stayed there for a while before he walked behind me and layed down, wrapping his arms lovingly around me and placing them on my large stomach once more. My cheeks flamed again.

My mind suddenly became sharp. Flying images of the Outlands seemed to appear in the sky as Miko softly whispered to me possible names for our cub. My flaming face became more real and I remembered why I was here. Concentrating in Miko behind me, I tried to think of something he would be afraid of. It wasn't that hard, his fears came rapidly when I tried to tap them. They were all terrible fears, ones that I really didn't want to bring to life. But I had to. I couldn't risk the lives of my best friends. Gritting my teeth, I shakily tried to conjure up images of Outlanders, of Seconds. And sure enough they bounded out of the surrounding grass. With deafening roars from both Miko and the attackers, a fight followed, blood spilling everywhere, my head pounding from keeping up the warped dream. My heart heavy with sorrow and guilt. One of the attackers suddenly pounced on me, and I fought back feebly, my large belly making it hard to manuver. I let out a piercing scream as she clawed at my stomach and chest, the last image of Miko staring helplessly and enraged from the ground only a little bit away, covered in red and pinned to the ground.

The terrible memory done, I once again entered our grim reality. We all didn't know what to do, what to say.

"We're getting out of here." Nala finally declared. We both looked at her. What did she say? Did she not see the bunch of lionesess out there that could kill us with one blow? Not to mention her broken leg!

"We'll dig a tunnel out. You can hardly see anything from up there anyways, so, all we have to do is dig in one of the corners. That, or next time they send for us, we surprise them, they only send two for all three of us right? So we suddenly whip around and-" she became quiet as the hole above our heads opened up. All nodding towards each other, we waited for the vine to drop but what sounded like protests came in from above. We all stopped and looked up. Someone was coming down on the vine.

**NUKA'S POV**

Mother kept me after the demonstration. Or the trial...whatever it was, she made me stay with her. And I was greeted by her usual temper once we got out of the cavern.

"Did you do what I asked?" she hissed, her eyes flaming. See, she told me to make them feel like they were going to be trapped down here forever, and eventually die without ever knowing of their home or family again. And I was going to do it...before Tal was all nice. The other two didn't seem so bad, even if the green-eyed one was a bit scary. I didn't want to hurt them.

"Exactly what you asked, mother!" I said loudly. I hoped that she didn't ask too much because this was the first time that I didn't do what she asked. The first time that I lied to her. It felt wrong...

"Good, now go and sleep." she looked a bit skeptical but didn't think much about my weird behavior. I thanked the Kings, the ones that my mom taught me were good, and followed her directions, not in any mood to get hit today. My mind was still confused though, if Tal and Nala and maybe even the scary green-eyed girl were so nice, how could they be bad? Why did mother want to hurt them so much? The questions buzzed in my head until I thought my brain was going to explode! Finally, sleep fell on my troubled brain.

**NALA'S POV**

The descending figure didn't look menacing or threatening in any way. If anything, it was scared and nervous. Who could be coming down? As they came lower, their cinnamon-like fur finally became apparent. Jari!

"Nala? Tal? Kiki?" her fur was scruffy and dirty and she had a few bad looking marks like if someone had beat her. We all probably looked like that.

"Jari?" I squinted, making sure that it was her. For all I knew, the Seconds had developed shape shifting powers! She nodded vigorously and came closer. The three of us eventually snapped out of our shocked stupors and approached Jari, asking questions about her whereabouts this entire time.I felt very, very guilty about barely sparing a thought about where she could possibly be throughout this whole ordeal. She was after all, going to be family.

Family. My heart contracted painfully when Simba's wonderful smile appeared in my head. I missed him so bad! What would he do if he found out what I was supposed to do? What I was doing to him? I wondered where he was, at what point was he at. Did he stop? What was it going to take for his will to snap? My mind wandered to worse thoughts before I shook my head. I was NOT going to go down that road. I was NOT going to become weak. I had to be strong. I had to be a Queen.

"They kept me seperate, in a hold like this, and finally led me here. They didn't tell me anything though, what happened? What's going on?" she looked around, scared. But something was off. It was that same odd glint in her eye that unnerved me the night that this whole nightmare started. It was always there, as if there was another Jari hidden inside we all saw and the only window to that Jari was the strange look in her eyes. I didn't comepletly dismiss the thought, though I pushed it to the side. She WAS the daughter of a crazy lunatic, but that didn't mean that she was crazy too. I took over the explanation, and described the general situation without going into too much detail, better to be safe than sorry, even if I might regret it later.

"Oh crap." She said, eloquently expressing our situation. Oh crap was right. "But, what do we do?"

"We were just discussing it. I have a messy and basic plan at best, but at least it's a plan. We have to escape somehow, and I think digging or running like crazy are the only options. What else could we do?" Kiki and Tal looked at me with a slight expression of gratitude and admiration but Jari simply shook her head.

"I don't think that will work. The place is just a giant maze of tunnels and small rooms. Plus, it's crawling with lionesses. We would never know where we're going or which way is out.  
>We wouldn't make it." she glanced at the growing light filtering in through the small holes as morning came. Well her statement made me feel better! But she had a point, my supposed plan would get us all killed. Some Queen I was. She looked serious and thoughtful before breaking the solemn silence.<p>

"What we need is some inside information. Do you guys know anyway we could get that?"

"Umm...I might?" Tal offered, raising a timid paw. I immediatly knew where she was going.

"No Tal."

"But-"

"We don't really know where his loyalties lie!"

"But you don't get it! He doesn't like it here! I'm sure that with his help we could get out!"

"Or he could screw us over." Kiki weighed in. I nodded.

"Thank you. Think about it Tal, why would he help us?" Nuka was unstable, and confusing. There was no telling what he would do.

"We could take him back with us. He doesn't like it here, Nala, Zira hits him. He's like a child! He just takes it! If we offer to take him back, he could be freed from this Hell! I'm sure he'll take the offer!" she pleaded. PLEADED. She truly cared about Nuka's well-being. I sighed and shook my head.

"We just can't take that risk Tal. I'm sorry, but enlisting Nuka's help is out of the question." I tried to say it kindly but Tal still looked hurt and angry. Great, now my friend was mad at me.  
>Jari simply looked at me and nodded, approving of my decision. She still had that strange glint though...that...look.<p>

"We should just rest and wait for any more news. If any one gets any more ideas, then tell us." I proceded to pace and constantly eye the entrance. Each of my fellow Pridelanders did some other activity to keep their mind occupied. I racked my brain for any ideas. Any single, tiny, semblance of an idea would be helpful.

I got none.

**SIMBA'S POV**

The walk was long, boring, and very stressful. Long because the Outlands seemed to go on forever, boring because there was hardly anything to look at, and stressful because behind any termite mound and inside any hole, there could be a freaky superlioness wanting to rip our throats out. Not the makings of a very good day is it? As our party made our way through the desolate landscape, a smooth voice suddenly spoke up.

"Do you have any idea where we are going?" he sounded just a bit smug. I stopped and kept facing forward. This was what I was regretting. I reallly didn't know, and I really didn't want to admit to it. I had just been focusing on getting inside the Outlands and getting Nala out. I hadn't really thought that she might not have been easy to find. But it did make sense now.

"You don't know...do you?" Yutico continued. "Well...I could try to help you. Just give me a memory that you two share and I should be able to find her." at his crazy request, I turned around. He was just standing there, in all of his ghostlyness, looking at my expectantly.

"What?" I had dealt with a lot of weird from Yutico, but this was a new level. He could use a memory to find her? And if I gave him the memory, would I get it back? Miko, Kuju and Jessikia where looking on with similar looks of confusion.

"Well a memory has a connection with the person you share it with. Your first day in the world has connections with your parents, your first kiss has connections with your first girlfriend, your first fight has a connection with your opponent. These connections may fade over time, but they never truly go away. The Great Kings use these connections in many different ways. We can follow these connections, and I can use one to find your Nala."

Oh. Well that was helpful. "If I give you a memory, would I get it back?" I didn't want to lose any memory I had of Nala. I treasured every single one.

"When I'm done using it, yes."

I sighed and gave in. "Alright. Do your memory...extraction?"

Yutico smiled and suddenly I felt a zap, like a small lightning bolt had struck me right between the eyes. I winced and rubbed the now stinging spot.

"There, I already have a fix on her. Apparently she's...underground?"

**TAL'S POV**

Everyone eventually stopped pacing and drifted off to sleep. My stomach complained loudly as I watched on. I was tired, hungry, and mad that Nala refused to see things my way. I mean, from what I saw, Nuka was not a bad person. He was a poor, abused soul that I was sure could help us. So, I fought the exaustion that weighed down on my shoulders and carefully made my way to the circle that marked the entrance. It was still uncovered, making my plan a whole lot easier. I let out an echoey "Hello?"

"What?" I winced at the loud growl as Nala grunted and shifted in her sleep, her bandaged leg stiff and limp.

"I have remembered something that could allow anyone to go into anyone's dreams. I wish to work on the dream-link once more." I had spent a while thinking up what to say. Now that the words were out of my mouth, they sounded formal and rehearsed. I feverently hoped that the tone of my words wouldn't tip off the guard.

First silence. Then, "Wait a moment..." steps echoed farther away and I breathed a sigh of relief. They bought it! "Come out." the voice comanded shortly after, and the vine dropped down. Perfect! This was going to work like a charm. I would get us out of here soon enough, just you wait Nala.

**'Kay so, tell me how I did!Thank you to all who DO review-I LOVES YOU! And please don't kill me for not updating! Oh, and no flames -_-**


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